Glynn girls knocked off in state soccer final, 3-2

A historic season for the Glynn Academy girls soccer team came to a disappointing finish Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Terrors absorbed a 3-2 loss to Alpharetta in the Class 6A state championship game played at McEachern High school in Powder Springs.

The loss was the first of the season for Glynn (21-1) which was making its first-ever appearance in a state championship game.

The three goals scored by the Raiders (16-6-3) were the most allowed by the Lady Terrors in a single game this season. The previous high was two in a 4-2 victory over Columbus in early March.

The Lady Terrors had pitched 16 shutouts in 21 matches going into Saturday’s state final and had not been scored on in their previous seven matches including their four state tournament contests prior to the championship.

Alpharetta won the state title as the No. 4 seed from rugged Region 7 which advanced three of its four playoffs teams to the state semifinals.

The Raiders defeated the No. 1 seed from the region, Johns Creek, 1-0 in the semifinals to reach the championship match. The Lady Terrors toppled the region’s No. 2 seed, Pope, also by 1-0 earlier this week to get to the state final which is played at a neutral site.

Saturday’s noon game opened with temperatures hovering around 90 degrees, making it feel more like 100-plus degrees on the artificial surface at Cantrell Stadium.

The Lady Terrors never led in the championship match.

Alpharetta got on the scoreboard first when senior captain Mary Wygle got behind the defense with her speed and booted a shot into the left corner of the Glynn goal for a 1-0 lead nine minutes into the contest.

Glynn answered quickly, though, with its first goal. After several players headed the ball in front of the Alpharetta goal, Mady Carroll let the ball drop to the ground and nailed a shot into the left corner of the goal to make the score 1-1 with just over 29 minutes left in the first half.

The Raiders would get their second goal to go back in front on a penalty kick at the 16:12 mark of the opening half after a foul in the box by Glynn.

Sophomore Abby Schwartz connected on the kick for a 2-1 lead.

The Lady Terrors evened the score at 2-2 late in the first half when Alpharetta failed to clear the ball away from its goal, leaving Glynn’s Sally Brock with an open look and she fired the ball into the Raiders’ goal for the equalizer.

The teams went to the half tied at 2-2.

Alpharetta scored the only goal in the second half when senior Jenna Horton drilled a shot from just outside the 18-yard box into the upper left corner to put the Raiders back on top less than seven minutes into the closing half.

Neither side generated the scoring chances that it did in the opening 40 minutes, but the Lady Terrors had more trouble generating offense than their counterpart.

Senior goal keeper Bliss Hutchings made several saves to keep Glynn in the game until the end, but the Lady Terrors couldn’t beat the Alpharetta defense.

Glynn did have the ball deep on the Raiders’ side of the field in the closing moments and got off a desperation shot that was bobbled at first by Alpharetta freshman keeper Jenna Corbin but was quickly corralled and booted away as time expired on the clock.

After shaking hands with the Raiders, Hutchings accepted the runner-up trophy for the Lady Terrors who waved to their fans seated in the stands before leaving the field and giving way for Alpharetta to accept its championship trophy.

Glynn loses five seniors from its 23-player roster, but with a mostly young team this year, the Lady Terrors hope to contend for state titles again in future seasons.