BOGART, Ga. — Eastside split matchups with the North Oconee Titans on Friday as each team closed in on playoff berths.

The Lady Eagles fell 0-8 with the help of four goals from the Lady Titans’ Nolyn Herron in the first half. When it came time for the boys’ matchup, Eastside grabbed a 4-1 win as freshman Joel Funes netted a brace

Lady Titans 8, Lady Eagles 0

The Eastside Eagles varsity soccer team lost 8–0 to the North Oconee Titans in Region 8-AAAA. 

North Oconee opened the scoring with a goal from Hadley Faulkner. Not too long after, Lexi Lindsey added the second goal. 

Herron scored four goals in the first half, contributing to a 6–0 lead. The fifth goal came from Annistyn Patterson off an assist from Herron. Patterson also recorded the sixth goal before halftime. 

Coach Yulisa Vega reflected on the team’s performance, saying, “We just need to learn to go in with the right mentality. We might have gone in not knowing the level of the team that we were about to play, but just being more mentally prepared and understanding that it was just a higher level of playing in general and just fixing the little things that turn into big things… stepping to the ball, not getting caught on your heels, can make a big difference against a talented team like this.” 

As the second half began, Eastside applied more defensive pressure and moved the ball forward more frequently, limiting extended possessions in their defensive half. Despite this, North Oconee added two more goals. Patterson scored the seventh goal, and Faulkner scored the eighth with only minutes remaining. 

“Take away the outcome on the scoreboard, I do think there are things we can keep working on,” Vega said. “The defense was stronger towards the end, and I think just playing that way the entire 80 minutes… building off that energy and spreading it throughout the team, so we all feel motivated to keep playing will help in future games.” 

The final score was 8–0, final, North Oconee improved to 5–0 and moved into first place in the Region 8-AAAA standings, securing a position for regional playoffs. 

Following the loss, the Lady Eagles rebounded with a 2-1 win over Flowery Branch on Thursday, April 2. With the win, Eastside moved to 8-4 with a 3-3 finish in Region 8-AAAA play. 

With region play completed, the Lady Eagles hold the No. 4 seed.

Eastside 4, North Oconee 1

The Eastside boys' varsity soccer team defeated the North Oconee Titans 4–1 in the 7:30 matchup.

Funes opened the scoring as the lone goal stood as the only action of the night until the midway point of the second half.

Coach Jabari Bennett highlighted the team’s performance, saying, “Working the ball around, controlling the game through the middle, especially finishing our chances — I would say those three things were very critical for us. But what I really liked, especially with our style of play today, is that we worked all around very well. This is probably one of the better games we’ve played, and because of that, with passing and moving, we were able to score fairly early. I loved the energy the kids brought today.” 

In the second half, Hudson Harris scored the third goal for the Eagles to take a 3-0 advantage. 

North Oconee scored its only goal later in the half, but Eastside maintained possession and limited additional scoring opportunities. Funes scored his second goal as the final goal of the game as the freshman notched his brace. 

Bennett also stated, “I want us to keep building the way we’ve been building the past couple of days and past couple of games. I want to see us really push ourselves to get to that next level that I know we can be. I know this team is very young, but I have high expectations of them. They know this. They are all great kids, and they all have great potential.” 

Following a 4-1 win, Eastside suffered a pair of losses as the team fell to Central Gwinnett(3-5) and Flowery Branch(1-2) to close out the regular season.

Eastside finished 6-6 with a 3-2 record in Region 8-AAAA — which sets up the team as a No. 3 seed ahead of the playoffs.