Girls' soccer: Jefferson upends N. Oconee, tied for subregion lead

North Oconee beat Jefferson in close fashion last year. This past Friday, the Lady Dragons (3-1, 2-0) returned the favor.

Carolyn Carreno scored in the last two minutes off a penalty kick to lift the Jefferson girls’ soccer team (3-1, 2-0) to a huge, 2-1 home win over North Oconee.

“It’s always been a close game with those guys,” Jefferson coach Todd Parker said. “And they’ve always come out and won in the last minute.”

Parker pointed particularly to the close loss last season to North Oconee.

“So it was a well-deserved win,” Parker said. “It really was.”

The coach said Jefferson’s girls “just wanted it in their hearts more.”

“It was such a close game,” Parker said. “The other girls started getting frustrated, and our girls just kept on popping.”

Camillia Hernandez scored the other goal off a corner kick as Jefferson remained unbeaten and in first place in Region 8-AA South. North Oconee came into the game unbeaten after winning the subregion championship last year and advancing to state. The Lady Dragons certainly savored the victory as they’re currently tied with rival Jackson County for first.

“We’re actually very happy about that,” Parker said of being at the top of the subregion. “There was like a party afterwards.”
Jefferson, which has won two straight, is off until Friday. Its next game is on the road at East Hall at 5 p.m. The Lady Dragons’ next subregion game is March 12 at home against Elbert County.

“We’ve just got to continue practicing hard,” Parker said. “We have to.”

The Lady Dragons will also continue to build depth. Parker said that’s been a difference maker so far.

“Now that these freshmen are coming up, we’re just putting fresh legs in there,” Parker said. “We had all of our subs in there this time (against North Oconee). We just kept on putting fresh legs in. As long as they can keep ball control, I think we’ll keep winning.”