Peachtree Ridge Lions Soccer

LIONS STUN #1 RANKED WAR EAGLES 4-1

A well-rested Peachtree Ridge Boy's varsity team beat Georgia's #1 ranked, AAAA Marist War Eagles at Lion Stadium on Friday night by the score of 4-1.  Marist came into the contest with a 12-1 record, and a number 6 ranking in the ESPN FAB 50 spring soocer rankings.  The win takes the Lion's record to 12-2 on the season, with 3 games remaining.  Two of the remaining matches are critical Region 7 games against Duluth and Moutainview.  The final game of the season will be a non-region contest against highly ranked Lambert High School.

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"I was very pleased to see 100% of the players returning from spring break to make Thursday's practice," said Coach Ryan Sutton after the match.  "I think that shows the dedication that this group of players has toward our effort this year.  We have struggled with missing players for spring break games in years past - as their coach, I appreciate their personal and family dedication to our program."

The Lion's came out strong as Jeremy Rector scored in the 2nd minute when Andres Rodriquez played a beautiful ball into space that gave Rector room to run.  One on one with the keeper, he beat the keeper low to his left side for the early 1-0 lead. 

Five minutes later, Juan Herrera took a Rodriquez cross out of the air and played a beautiful head ball to the feet of Rector.  Rector got tangled with a War Eagle defender and the ball bounced to the left foot of Branden Green who calmly beat the Marist Keeper for a 2-0 advantage.

After the War Eagles had closed the gap 2-1, Chris Cook played a nice ball to Rector on the sideline.  Rector beat one defender and cut toward the middle of the field, side-stepping another War Eagle defender.  He cut loose a bending shot that found the right hand upper-ninety corner of the goal past the outstretched arms of the Marist keeper, extending the Lion lead to 3-1 at the break.

Jeremy Rector's shot finds the top corner of the net against Marist

The second half provided a more even flow to the game, but the Lion defense was up to the task.  "The defense tonight was superb," stated Coach Sutton.  "We only gave up one shot on goal during this game to the #6 ranked team in the country.  We have talked about playing more high pressure defense, and when we do, good things happen.  Having Derek Bryant back sure helps, but everyone of our guys were on top of their games tonight.  Grayson Guldenschuh, J.T. Taplin, Jake Siracusa and Nate Grant did a great job." 

Putting the "icing on the cake" was Cook.  In the 71st minute, Hererra provided the ammunition when he played a beautiful ball for his second assist of the match into the space in front of a streaking Cook.  Cook beat both the keeper and defender to the ball, and went around the keeper and placed the ball low into the side netting on the right hand side of the goal, securing the 4-1 victory.

"We are also extremely excited to have Kevin Zuluaga and Joey Bittner joining the squad.  They had great seasons for our JV program, and they are already making a contribution at the varsity level.  Kevin is a tenacious midfielder who is always working, and Joey gives us more size, depth and speed on defense," added Sutton.

The Lion's next opponent is local rival Duluth High School, who will be looking for revenge for last year's match when the Lion's come out on top 2-1.  The game will be played at Duluth's Wildcat Stadium on Tuesday night at 7:45.

"We hope to see all Lion fans at Tuesday's game," said an excited Coach Sutton.  "Duluth can be a crazy place to play because their fans really get into the games.  We really need our fans support for that one!"  Be There!