If not for a bad bounce or two, the Lady Greyhounds would likely be region soccer champions.
But in a microcosm of how thin the margin for error can be in soccer, last week’s loss in penalty kicks to Ola marked Jones County’s second region overtime loss of the season, slotting them as the region’s No. 3 seed going into the state tournament, which begins April 22.
There’s a level of satisfaction for the Lady Greyhounds, who will be returning to the postseason after a two-year absence. But instead of hosting a first-round match, JCHS will instead play at Region 8-AAAA’s second seed, either Walnut Grove or North Oconee.
Last Tuesday determined the second seed out of the Lady Greyhounds region, a spot that Ola picked up with its win. JCHS is 11-3 overall on the season and 7-2 in the region.
“It’s a little bittersweet, but you’ve only lost three games all season. And you’re going into the playoffs as a three seed against a really good region,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Mikayla Coley said. “It’s better than being the four, but you still don’t want to be a three.”
For Jones County, it was a goalie’s duel in which Wendy Ramirez-Perez held the Mustangs to one goal through regulation and two overtimes. After an arching shot in the first few minutes by Ola made the score 1-0, the JCHS defense held Ola scoreless for more than a combined 98 minutes.
Generating chances was no problem against Ola for Jones County, which nearly tied it with just over 28 minutes to go in the first half as Daisy Blanton’s shot missed wide, one of many shots to pepper the Mustangs end of the field in an effort to even things up.
“I don’t think we ever lost confidence,” Coley said. “Against teams like this, you have to do a better job of taking advantage of those opportunities.”
That pressure continued in the second half, as Marrisa Moore’s shot three minutes after the break missed to the right, and a shot by Isabella Bodnarchuk with 33 minutes left was kicked away by Ola’s goalie.
With just over 17 minutes to play, the Lady Hounds broke through. Lining up for a free kick, Emory Sanford boomed a shot into the back of the net, tying the score 1-1. JCHS nearly won in regulation, only to have a shot by Blanton swatted away and Moore’s shot bounce off the bottom of the crossbar, barely staying above the goal line, forcing the two 10-minute overtimes in which both teams had chances to score and came up empty, forcing penalty kicks where Jones County was kept off the board and Ola scored twice, giving the Mustangs the win.
