For a little more than two months, no girls soccer team has registered at least one goal on the Veterans High Lady Warhawks.
The latest shutout victim is Westover High of Albany. On Tuesday at the Veterans campus, the Lady Warhawks won 3-0 to advance to the quarterfinals (‘Elite 8’) of the GHSA AAAA championship tournament.
The next team to make a stab at scoring on Veterans was River Ridge High of Woodstock. That match took place late Friday.
To win 11 matches in a row, the Lady Warhawks have not only shut the opposition down defensively, but also scored a total of 49 goals. The last time anyone scored on Veterans was also the last time Whitney Wallis’ girls suffered a defeat, and that was by a 4-3 score against Columbus High at home March 5.
Columbus is also in the AAAA quarterfinals having shut out Grady 1-0 in the second round. There could be a potential rematch in the semifinals – Veterans again would be the host – if both teams were victorious in the quarters. Columbus played Wayne County in Jesup at the same time the Lady Warhawks battled River Ridge.
To overtake Westover Tuesday, Veterans had to deal with an athletic defensive effort by the Lady Patriots. All three goals in the match took place in the first half, and as quick as they came – in a span of eight minutes – it looked like a full-fledged blowout was in the works.
Possession of the soccer ball – if anything else – is a major reason the Lady Warhawks don’t give up points. They made Westover work near its goal, and Breanna Gomez made a nice crossing pass that stayed inbounds, but no teammate could get in place for a shot at the net.
At 34:40, Sierra Gomez settled Aspen Coggins’ throw-in and took a hard shot caught by the Lady Patriot keeper. One minute later Ashley Stepanek received an onside lead to the keeper’s right angle, but her effort was also snagged.
Just 40 seconds later, it looked like Veterans would get on the board when Khayla Owens took on four defenders. Myranda Wyatt tapped in the loose ball, but officials ruled her offside.
From a defensive standpoint, Westover showed why it won 14 matches, including an opening-round victory against Spalding. Veterans also had to do something not seen in the first round match with South Effingham: take a goal kick.
Wyatt was first to the ball and sped down field, the result being a corner kick at 29:30. Anna Jeffords had a shot on the opposite end that missed wide. Wyatt won another 50-50 at midfield, and Owens passed on the run to Stepanek for a shot saved at 27:45.
Taylor Craig and Jeffords stood their ground against Lady Patriot attacks as the first half went under 24 minutes. Goalkeeper Erin Harbison dove on a ball at her right side at 22:30.
As Wallis made substitutions for the next 20 minutes of the half, the goals were quick to come. Coggins took a midfield 50-50, drove past the defense and passed the ball to her right. There was Sarah Lucas from the reserve group, and with her first shot on goal she scored on the opposite post (18:20).
The match went to 2-0 following what was a free kick for Westover. Craig cleared the ball towards the other end, and another substitute, Rebecca Dukes, took control. She made the pass to Owens that set up 1-on-1 with the visiting keeper. Owens owned that situation with a point at 16:48.
Lucas and Savannah Smith passed the ball back and forth around the box to find Owens again on the attack. Westover saved her effort at 10:50, but Owens reclaimed it quickly and notched her second goal – the last of the match, at 10:19.
Veterans’ Shelby King made two attacks in the last nine minutes. She had a head shot off S. Gomez’ corner kick cleared, and she challenged the keeper at 4:22 for a Veterans corner.
Westover’s defense never relented in the second half, first saving a point-blank blast from Owens at 33:05. Harbison recorded a save at 28:20, and at 25:52 she hauled in a 20-yarder.
Both Owens and Dukes missed headers at 24:30. Smith had a close crossing shot go wide, and Stepanek was denied at 21:21. Lucas had two shots saved in the final 20 minutes, and Westover also caught one more from S. Gomez.
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