As far as girls soccer goes for Jones County, Union Grove has been every bit of a dragon. A goliath standing in the way.
Last Tuesday, the Lady Greyhounds picked up their slingshot and took down that giant, scoring a go-ahead goal in the final 12 minutes to win 2-1.
>> SEE FULL PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME
JCHS also beat Stockbridge 11-1 Friday, improving to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the region.
“It’s huge for our kids, especially our upperclassmen who kind of know that Union Grove has kind of been a Goliath for a while,” Lady Hounds head coach Mikayla Coley said. “They’ve been on top for the last nine years since I have been here.”
That late goal coming with 12:51 to play on a howitzer from the left side by Daisy Blanton, broke a 1-1 tie in a game that until that point appeared possibly headed for overtime where the format of two 10-minute periods plus potential penalty kicks would have brought a whole other element of the unknown.
“In overtime, you never know,” Coley said. “Plus, when you have two 10-minute periods and PKs and both teams are gassed, that’s a long time.”
Thanks to Blanton cashing in along with strong back-line play in addition to that of goalie Wendy Ramirez-Perez, no overtime was needed. The Wolverines amped up the pressure at around nine minutes in the second half with Ramirez-Perez and her defensive counterparts locking in to turn away a pair of Union Grove scoring chances, going on to come away with additional defensive stops the rest of the way.
“My defense really held it together. A lot of them are upperclassmen. They work so well together,” Coley said. “They did a great job of shutting down certain players and making sure they did not get the ball.”
Early offensive pressure led to a first-half Lady Hounds lead. After an initial shot on goal from the left side by Blanton, Kaylee Pippin powered a shot in from near the top of the box, putting JCHS up 1-0 with 11:27 to go in the half.
That lead, however, lasted roughly a minute as the Wolverines got an equalizer off a corner kick.
“It was a bit of a momentum killer, one thing I talked to our girls about coming in is how much (Union Grove) scores their goals on corner kicks. They have that big tall girl up front, and they find her, and she puts it in,” Coley said. “It was frustrating because we talked about it for two days.”
But Jones County was up for the challenge. After winning all but one match by a margin of at least three goals, the Lady Hounds proved that they could also win with a much smaller margin for error.
“This is first time it’s been super competitive but was winnable if we played clean,” Coley said. “I’m so proud of our girls.”
