The Gatewood girls soccer team dominated Covenant Academy of Macon to advance to the next round of the GIAA Class 2A state tournament on Friday.
The No. 7-seeded Lady Gators (8-8) defeated the No. 10 Lady Rams (7-6) by a score of 8-0 to secure a spot in the Elite Eight for a second consecutive season. They led the match from start to finish.
Gatewood’s girls received contributions from several different scorers in the lopsided victory. Covenant’s defense struggled to contain Kathy Mendez, Lily Piper, Kimberly Mendez, and Sophie Eiesle. Those four have led the team in scoring and performed well again in last week’s playoff match.
Gatewood also got a solid outing from defenders such as Sarah Kate Mansfield, Lily Huskins, Riley Justice, and Chloe VanNote. They helped the Lady Gators secure their seventh shutout of the season.
The win over Covenant evened Gatewood’s record to .500. The Lady Gators started the season 0-4 but have gone 7-4 down the stretch. They’re now playing some of their best soccer at the right time.
Gatewood will have its work cut out for it in the Elite Eight against Westminster Christian Academy of Watkinsville. The Lady Lions (13-1-1) defeated the Lady Gators twice already this season.
Westminster won the first match 5-4 on March 18 and secured the series with a 2-0 victory on April 15.
To win, Gatewood’s girls must prevent Westminster’s Faith Lawhead from adding to her tally of seven goals against them this season. They will also need their top scorers to step up and lead the offense.
These two teams are very familiar with each other, and the winner will face either No. 3 Georgia Christian or No. 6 St. George’s in the next round. They’ll meet again on May 16 at Westminster at 6 p.m.
On the other side of the Class AA bracket, No. 1 Central Fellowship Christian and No. 8 Heritage face off against each other. The other matchup is between No. 4 Trinity Christian and No. 5 Sherwood Christian.