Mill Creek girls outlast Lady Lions 2-1
Boy's lose 4-1
Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t. The ball bounced the way of the Mill Creek Hawks in a hard fought game against our Lady Lions. Mill Creek converted two break away goals and could not score again but those two goals held up for a win and the first region loss for Peachtree Ridge.
At times during the game the Lions peppered the Mill Creek goal with shots but the only score came on a scramble in front of the net after a corner kick caromed off several players before Macey Raines converted the only Lion score of the night on an unassisted goal.
Mill Creek led 2-0 at the end of the half with both teams attacking aggressively at various times. The first Hawks score came at 32:54 when a header over the top caught the Ridge back line too far forward. Courtney Emmert ran onto the loose ball and beat Lions keeper Cosette Morche on a no-chance placement to her low left.
The Lions almost tied the score three minutes later when Jordyn Missel feed a ball nicely to Alanna Dineen whose shot just missed the side of the net.
At the 18:50 mark, the Lions turned in the defensive play of the night off of a corner kick when Cosette Morche deflected a Hawks shot from point blank range and defender Kayla Thomas alertly kicked it out before it could cross the goal line. Kayla was positioned perfectly to make the play and it kept the Lions close.
Again the Lady Lions almost tied the score when Alanna Dineen led a perfect through ball to the feet of Ashley Balmforth whose shot appeared to find the back of the net but in reality just missed wide.
Mill Creek opened up a 2-0 lead at 10:22 when another Lions defensive lapse resulted in a “garbage” goal by Madeline Youngblood of the Hawks.
The half ended with the Lions two goals down. The Lions had more possession and more chances in the half but could not find the goal.
Mill Creek opened the second half with two early shots that were both saved by Lion’s keeper Cosette Morche. The score by Macey Raines then brought the Lion within one goal of tying the action.
After the Mill Creek keeper came over the 18 to handle a ball and received a yellow card for her verbal protest to the referee the Lions almost tied the game several different times. The onslaught started with a free kick by Shelby Jennings that hit the crossbar and the rebound was handled by the Ridge who attacked the substitute Hawk’s keeper. But Mill Creek withstood the challenge and the Lions remained one goal down.
The game was played very physical by both sides. In the waning minutes it appeared that Katey Lippitt was tripped by a Mill Creek defender. Katey had been moved forward from her normal defensive position in a last ditch effort to get more offensive pressure up front to tie the game. But there was no call and the game ended 2-1 in favor of the Hawks.
Leaving the field after the game Lion’s Coach Bill Holleman was shaking his head. “Bad Luck!” was his only comment. Both teams are now 3-1 in region play.
In the boy’s match, the Hawks were able to beat the Lions by a score of 4-1. Except for a 10 minute stretch at the beginning of the game, and a 20 minute stretch at the end of the game, the Lion’s seemed to go sideways and backwards instead of forward.
The Hawks were more deliberate in the attack, and it showed as supporting numbers around the Lion goal were the difference in the match.
The Lion’s only goal of the match was scored by senior Taylor Williamson when junior Jeremy Rector was able to volley a ball over a Mill Creek defender and into his path. Williamson was able to tap the ball in the goal to make the score 2-1 just before half. However, that was the closest the Lions would get as they conceded the contest 4-1. Of note, goalkeeper Daryl Sack and midfielders Kevin Zuluaga both had strong games for the Lions.
The loss is the second in region play, and drops the Lions to a second place tie with Duluth and North Gwinnett in region. The three teams will battle it out for a playoff spot over the next 2 weeks.
Next up the Lions travel to North Gwinnett on Thursday to take on the Bulldogs.
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Tag(s): Lions News
