It's been quite a year for the area's only semi-professional sports team.
The Georgia Revolution, a National Premier Soccer League team out of Conyers has added some of the two-year old franchise's biggest moments, and are a step closer to reaching yet another milestone.
The Revs defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves 3-1 Tuesday, the only NPSL team to beat Georgia this season, 3-1, clinching first place in the Southeast Conference East Division.
The top divisional spot allows Georgia to host the Southeast Conference championship against Chattanooga FC, the conference winner two seasons ago, on July 13 or 14.
"It's exciting," Revolution coach John Sprague said. "I'm really happy for the guys. They put in a lot of time, a lot of effort, they've been very committed and it's paid off for them."
Things looked shaky at the outset of the Revolutions' rematch with the Silverbacks Reserves as the Atlanta team had two shots on goal in the first 15 seconds. However, Kwado Poku then found Riley Sumpter on a cross to put Georgia on the scoreboard just eight minutes in.
Poku added a goal of his own in the 38th minute to give the Revs a 2-0 lead at halftime.
"It started off a little crazy," Sprague said "In the first five minutes they really had control of the match, it took us a little time to get in it."
In a match that featured a lightning delay at halftime, the Revs then came out strong. Clarke Bentley added an insurance goal early in the frame.
The Revs have one more regular season match, a road trip against Myrtle Beach FC Saturday before beginning the post season at RYSA Soccerplex. The Soccerplex has already hosted some big matches for the Revs this season, as Georgia achieved new heights in 2012.
The year started with the Revs first ever appearance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Revs took advantage of the opportunity, defeating the Mississippi Brilla in the first round to play a professional team for the first time in franchise history.
The Atlanta Silverbacks, a second-division team, came to the Soccerplex, where they edged the Revs, but it was still a valuable experience for the NPSL squad.
"I think advancing to the second round of the U.S. Open Cup was pretty good," Sprague said. "It's been a good year, there's no one specific incident above the others. Playing against a pro team was an eye-opening experience for us. To compete and do as well as we did against pro players certainly boosted their confidence a little bit."
Other highlights in a big year for the Revolution were the team's first hat trick, by Poku against Myrtle Beach on June 16, along with hosting its first conference championship coming up in a week.
The winner of the Revolution-Chattanooga matchup will go on to the NPSL national semifinals in San Diego.
"Hopefully, we'll get a good result against Chattanooga a second time for the national finals," Sprague said. "That will be a great experience as well."
