LION'S SPLIT PAIR OF CONTESTS WITH GAC
Lady Lions Lose Opener 2-0
Lions Take the Men’s Contest 2-1
February 28, 2012: On a wet, rainy evening in Atlanta, the Lion’s and Spartan’s came away from Greater Atlanta Christian (“GAC”) Soccer Field with one win each. In the hard fought physical first game, the Lady Lions fell to the Spartans 2-0. As the rains intensified into the later match, it would be the Lion’s who would prevail 2-1. Both games were well played and extremely competitive - great soccer in tough conditions.
The Lady Lions came out strong and put some early pressure on the Spartans, only to be denied several early chances off the counter attack. “We had some great individual efforts tonight,” commented Girl’s Varsity Coach Bill Holleman. “Not taking anything away from those efforts, GAC is a good team, and we needed to play together a little more than we did. The Spartans were probably as good a team as we have seen this year at combining and passing the ball.” The Spartan’s style of play was well suited for the conditions, as in this match it really paid dividends to keep the ball on the ground. “As we tried to penetrate the Spartan defense with longer balls over the top, the weather came into play. The ball would skip and slide on the slick surface which made the counter attack extremely difficult,” added Holleman.
There were a number of strong individual performances on the night, with the Lion’s Alanna Dineen seemingly everywhere on the field. Her speed, skill and quickness kept the Spartans on edge all night. “Alanna came to play tonight. That is something we really look for from our seniors in big games. Our defenders played well too;” said Holleman, “Cosette Morche, Katey Lippitt, and Shelby Jennings did a nice job against a strong Spartan offense as did Olivia Hall before she went down. We will continue to focus on improving every game so we are ready for upcoming region play.” Hall was injured late in the first half on a competitve tackle with one of the GAC forwards.
In the Men’s game, it was the Lion’s who would control much of the match, with smart combinations and possession oriented soccer driving most of the game. Both teams were strong on the counter attack, seeing an equal number of good looks at goal throughout the contest. “We played well in the middle field, transitioning the ball up the pitch,” said Lion Coach Ryan Sutton, “but GAC is strong defensively. We were somewhat frustrated in the attacking third, until Juan ripped that shot.” In what had to be one of the prettiest goals of the season so far, Senior Juan Herrera unleashed a 25-yard bullet that would find the upper ninety far post for the early Lion lead at the 25-minute mark. The goal was Herrera’s second on the season. “He really tagged that one,” added Sutton.
From there, both sides traded chances. Senior Michael Valenzuela played a spectacular game on defense, keeping Spartan attacking players "off-kilter" all night long. “Michael was our leader back there tonight. He did a great job, as did Jake Siracusa, Raul Diaz, and Daryl Sack. The guy's really backed each other up and the combination of those players was a strong deterrent to GAC to try and come up the middle. Their effort's forced the Spartans outside, and that put a lot of pressure on our outside mids and backs. Grayson Guldenschuh and Michael Hanna were up to the task. That was one of the best games I have seen Grayson play,” said an appreciative Sutton.
The Lion’s would get their second goal off a quick counter attack. While defending against a Spartan goal kick, Lion Daniel Rodriquez was able to control a low driven skipping ball on the slick surface. His immediate outlet pass found Jordan Davis moving toward the middle of the field. Davis spotted Jeremy Rector making a strong run on the far side of the field. Jordan's beautiful through ball found Rector a step in the clear of the Spartan defender. Rector’s shot beat the Spartan keeper low to the far post, putting the Lion’s up in the match 2-0.
As it turned out, the Lion’s really needed that goal. With three minutes to go in the match, the Spartan’s would get a consolation goal as the result of a scramble in the box, after two brilliant point blank stops by Sack. But it was too little to late as the Lion’s secured their 3rd win on the young season, and second win against a Top Ten ranked opponent. The Lion's got notably strong performance's from Ryan Fitton getting his first start at the central midfield position, Hanna on defense, and Davis and Sahil Mahajan splitting time up top.
Next up, the Junior Varsity team’s play at home against Meadowcreek on Thursday, March 1st, in their second region match of the season. The girls have the early contest at 5:45 p.m., and the boy’s take the field in the later match at 7:30 p.m.
The Varsity Teams travel to Alabama this weekend to take on Hoover High School and Auburn High School in what promises to be some great soccer action. The girl’s play at 6:00 p.m. Friday and 11:00 a.m. Saturday. The boy’s kick it off at 5:00 p.m. Friday and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. You can find directions from Peachtree High School here.
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