GREENE COUNTY
After going to last year’s Class 1A Public state semifinals, the Lake Oconee Academy boys soccer team has continued to ride some of that momentum to have a productive first half of the season.
The Titans are currently 6-1-3 on the year with its most recent matches resulting in a 1-1 draw against Dawson County last Tuesday and an 11-1 win over Greene County three days later.
Over the course of 10 games, Lake Oconee Academy has only given up four goals up to this point in the season, mostly due to the performances of the Titans’ defense.
The team has a solid back four that is complemented by sophomore Knox Van Mol in goal.
Van Mol has kept six clean sheets so far this season and has made multiple saves to keep the Titans in some of their games. Head coach Conner Domaleski acknowledged that he continues to make a case for being the best goalkeeper in Class 1A.
“Knox has been really solid in goal, and we’ve had a couple of 0-0 draws early on that we pretty much owe him sole credit for,” Domaleski said. “He’s stopping penalty kicks, and doing everything and then some to preserve some of those goal-less games, and like I mentioned last year, I think he’s one of, if not the best keeper in the state.”
In addition to a strong defense, Lake Oconee Academy has been creating chances in the offensive half of the field just as well.
Team captain Jefferson Amaya has facilitated the ball well in the midfield and has helped create opportunities for guys like Leonardo Perez and Palmer Larkin, who were big contributors in the attacking half last year as well.
The team’s only loss came against Tattnall County a few weeks ago when the Titans conceded a late goal to drop the match 1-0.
Regardless, older guys stepped up, but the freshman class consisting of five players has also given Domaleski valuable minutes out on the pitch. Moving forward, he hopes his guys continue to play with passion to the final whistle.
“All the games this group has lost in the past, I can contribute to their mentality. In regards to Tattnall County, they scored their goal in the last minute. Our last loss before that was against Drew Charter in the semifinals last year when they scored two goals on us in the last minute and a half,” Domaleski said. “All of our recent losses have seemed to come from us giving up late goals because of a loss of focus, and if we can get past that, I think we can be successful.”
Lake Oconee Academy hosts Towns County later tonight before heading to Lincoln County next Tuesday.