The East Jackson soccer teams saw success last week, with the girls sweeping Elbert County and Oglethorpe while the boys bested the Blue Devils but fell to the Patriots.
That leaves the girls 2-0 in region play and 4-2 overall. The boys are 1-1 in the region and 3-3 overall.
Up next for East Jackson is a home stand today (Wednesday), against North Oconee. The girls’ match starts at 5 p.m. with the boys to follow at 7 p.m.
Elbert County
Things started out well last Tuesday against Elbert County. The girls set the tone for the day by blanking the Lady Blue Devils 8-0. Skyler Cozzens and Cassie Mull led in scoring with two goals each, while Jessica Wells, Sherri Blalock and Dakota Chandler all put the ball in the net. Jessica Alacron was the winning goalie.
The boys made a strong start against Elbert with a goal from Brandon Wise five minutes in from a fumble by the Blue Devils’ keeper. Wise scored a second goal 20 minutes later with a strike after constant pressure by the Eagles.
Elbert came out looking to even things up in the second half. There were chances at both ends before
Elbert’s lone striker connected with a through ball to make the score 2-1.
After 10 minutes of end-to-end action, Yeng Xiong scored to make the score 3-1. About 10 minutes later, Jonathan Zarco scored on a 40-yard strike, giving East Jackson a 4-1 win.
Both teams traveled to Lexington on Friday.
The girls picked up where they had left off earlier in the week, blanking the Lady Patriots 4-0. Cozzens scored two goals, with Mull and Sheena McEachin adding one apiece. Alacaron was the winning goalie.
Things didn’t go as well for the Eagles, as they got a slow start on the damp field.
A rough challenge left East Jackson without its starting keeper and one defender for the rest of the game. Oglethorpe scored first, leaving the Eagles down 1-0 at the half.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Wise got through to make it 1-1. Despite strong pressure, East Jackson couldn’t find that second goal, and the game ended regulation tied.
The game went through double overtime to penalty kicks, and despite two saves by Nic Alvarado, East Jackson lost 3-2 on penalty kicks.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News or The Jackson Herald.
