Lady Packer soccer wins two games in a row
Mar. 27—MOULTRIE — Coming away with back-to-back wins against Valdosta in region play, the Lady Packers varsity soccer team scored a total of six goals against the Wildcats.
"We are all feeling super happy after these victories," said head coach Carlos Bautista. "We had our foot on the gas pedal the entire time."
Now sitting 2-5 in region play and 3-10-1 in their overall season, the Lady Packers are in the conversation for the state tournament.
Last Friday, March 22, the Lady Packers took Valdosta 4-2 in their territory.
"All of our goals were scored in the second half," said Bautista. "By the end of the game everyone was soaking wet from all the rain."
This time, for Tuesday night's game, the Wildcats traveled to Packer Park.
Also an extremely rainy day, everyone moved to the indoor facility where the evening's game proceeded.
During the 80 minutes of play, the Lady Packers had a grand total of 67 shots on goal.
Two of them would be successful, both during the initial half.
Greer Turnipseed had the final touch on the first goal about halfway through those first 40 minutes.
Just minutes before halftime, the Lady Packers scored their final goal.
Taking the indirect kick as the result of a Valdosta penalty, Tatum Salter sent the ball arching through the air from midway between the goal and half point.
Valdosta's goalie leapt into the air, completing a near-flailing 360 spin in an attempt to stop the shot, but the ball was inches above her outstretched fingers and gracefully landed in the net.
Also taking shots for the Lady Packers in an attempt to raise the score were: Krystal Guerrero Mollie Hewett, Jennifer Cano, Jaida Gachuz, Ellis Turnipseed.
Defensively, the Lady Packers kept the ball in Wildcat territory for the majority of the game.
In fact, Lady Packer goalkeepers Rylee Tillery and Marley Ocampo had a quiet game as only two shots were taken on them the entire game.
Helping clear the ball were a multitude of Lady Packers, including: Jasmin Grijalva, Anna-Lee Vaughan, Vanessa Torres, Hewett, Gachuz, Ellis Turnipseed, Guerrero, Cano, Eidi Gachuz.
Torres had the most clears with 14.
Utilizing headers were: Ellis Turnipseed, Jaida Gachuz, Krystal Guerrero, Eidi Gachuz, Vaughan and Torres.
Winning skirmishes to gain possession of the ball was another aspect of the game the Lady Packers had on point during their second match against Valdosta.
Jaida Gachuz, Ellis Turnipseed, Guerrero, Hewett, Carolina Brown, Salter, Grijalva and Torres all completed a turnover at least once.
One particularly defensive play toward the end of the first half was when Ellis Turnipseed met the Valdosta athlete at the ball in the exact same moment to halt a breakaway.
A deafening, almost deep sound rang through the indoor facility as both cleats smashed into the soccer ball at the same time, stoping it dead in it's tracks.
The impact caused both players to tumble to the ground — neither were hurt.
"We had some very good individual performance and collective performance as a team," said Bautista. "We played very well and connected balls all night long. It was great to see."
Next, the Lady Packers will travel to Richmond Hill Friday for the final region game of the regular season.
April 9, beginning at 5:30 p.m., will be the next home match for the Lady Packers.
