Putnam County girls’ soccer continued its winning ways last week by finishing up its region slate with a pair of wins over Josey and Butler.
The Lady War Eagles won by forfeit over Josey, but mercy-ruled Butler 10-0 on March 27.
Putnam County came out firing on all cylinders, scoring nine goals from several different contributors in the first half. The Lady War Eagles added a goal in the first few minutes of the second half, ending the game early due to mercy rule, which was their second of the regular season.
Leading goal-scorer Lily Frisch scored a game-high five goals, followed by fellow senior Elizabeth Haley with three goals. Gracie Bird scored one goal and Noely Gonzalez scored her first goal of the year.
Putnam County’s victory over the Lady Bulldogs solidified it a region championship. The Lady War Eagles enter the playoffs as a one-seed and will host a first-round game on April 18.
Despite being on spring break, Putnam County head coach Brandi Barling relayed to The Eatonton Messenger that she was extremely excited for her players and the program after the win.
“That’s two years in a row we’ve been undefeated in region play and region champs,” Barling said.
To help set up the wins over Butler and Josey, the Lady War Eagles knocked off Thomson 1-0 on March 19. The victory over the Lady Bulldogs helped keep their region record alive going into last week.
“The win over Thomson was huge,” Barling added. “It sealed the region championship for us.”
Both teams had chances to score in the first half, but each goalkeeper proved to be valuable. The second half was more of the same until Putnam County broke through with a goal from Laura Ruiz.
For the rest of the match, the defense held strong and helped seal the win for the Lady War Eagles. Gonzalez, who’s played goal for most of the season due to Alexa Hernandez being injured, pitched a shutout. Gonzalez stopped many of Thomson’s offensive advances on the pitch.
Hernandez returned to play against Butler and posted her first shutout of the season for her team.
Putnam County (9-4, 9-0 Region 4-AA) is off this week due to spring break but is riding an eight-game winning streak. The Lady War Eagles will end the season on April 12 at Greene County.
Barling is excited to see where her team will end up in the postseason. She’s seen her team grow tremendously after starting the year 1-4 through five games. The players have grown since that point.
According to Barling, her players have learned to play together and are competing as a unit on the pitch.
“We have started working more as a team. Moving the ball up and down the field,” Barling said. “We are able to work around the defensive pressure and find the back of the net.”