Lady Bears lock up sixth region championship in eight years with 2-1 victory over Veterans

WARNER ROBINS — Since 2019 there’s only been one year that Houston County (10-2, 9-0 Region 2-5A) was not the region champion.

They ensured that standard stayed alive with a 2-1 victory over Veterans (9-6, 7-2 Region) on Tuesday.

“With our long history of excellence, that’s what we expect from every team that we cycle through,” Lady Bears head coach Gabby Wells said. “I’m very thankful for the team that I have now, it’s mostly seniors that I’ve been blessed to coach for four years straight. They’re extremely talented and the culture that they’ve built is phenomenal. They help each other, they encourage each other, and so really they make my job a lot easier by just being great kids.”

The Lady Warhawks aggressively pursued shots right from the kickoff.

Within the first 15 seconds of the match a long ball found its way into Kaylah Judy’s possession on the right wing. Within moments she let off a shot to wake up the HoCo defense.

Veterans focused on those long balls and getting through balls out wide on counter attacks.

One such pass against found Judy after 11 minutes had gone; she got it down to Rylynn Ward in the box who stuffed it through the left side past goalkeeper Lily Brzezicki.

That was the last one that got past Brzezicki, though.

“She was phenomenal. Lily’s always been a phenomenal keeper. She gets the job done any time we put her in,” Wells said.

Whether she had to come out and make a play in the box, fall on a shot or knock one wide the Lady ‘Hawks could not beat the junior after their initial score.

While Brzezicki and the back line ensured Veterans didn’t grow their lead the offense responded in kind.

Ayah Abdul-Malik missed her first opportunity to tie less than a minute after Veterans scored, but Olivia Buffone crossed the ball right and Abdul-Malik stuffed it home to knot the game at one.

With 22 minutes left in the first half the Lady Bears punished the Lady ‘Hawks for a defensive breakdown. Catherine Grady received the corner kick on the right wing just outside the box, and when no defender came to contest, she sent a shot sailing into the top left corner of the net for what ended up being the winning goal.

Veterans’ defense stepped it up after that. Goalkeeper Makenna Smith came out from goal and stopped many attacks before they got started. Unfortunately for the Lady ‘Hawks it was too late, and HoCo’s 2-1 halftime advantage lasted through the final buzzer.

There were some close calls and Brzezicki had her work cut out for her in the final half of play, but the Lady Bears’ defensive shift got them out with another region championship.

“[In the] second half we definitely were more defensive minded with us being up one,” Wells said. “We figured out direct balls were working best so that’s what we continued to do in the second half. It’s just the grit and their determination and their want to win this game that really set it apart in the second half.”

UP NEXT

HoCo will travel to Coffee to finish out their region schedule on March 26.

Veterans hosts Lee County on March 27.