COVINGTON, Ga. — Friday night at Sharp Stadium, the Eastside Lady Eagles failed to score a goal despite creating multiple opportunities. The result was a 4-0 loss to the Woodward Academy Lady War Eagles (2-0-1). 

The defeat was the Lady Eagles first of the 2021 campaign.

Less than three minutes into the match, Eastside lost leading scorer Katie Oakley to injury. Oakley — who along, with Aralyn Everett, was leading the Lady Eagles in scoring with eight goals apiece in their first four games — would be unable to return. Bailey Love, with five, and Sophia Leal, with three, would fire eight of the Lady Eagles’ 10 shots on goal in the match. Eastside would outshoot Woodward 19 to 13 on the night. 

Less than 15 minutes into the game, Woodward’s Brooke Sard netted the eventual game-winning goal when she one-touched the ball off a free kick from Simi Awujo up and over Eastside goalkeeper Anna Shelton, who was charging out to gain control of the ball. The 1-0 lead would last until Awujo scored to stretch the Woodward lead to 2-0 with 9:29 left in the half. 

In the second stanza, Woodward’s Charlotte Rubenstein chipped in a goal from short range off an Awujo corner kick to make it 3-0 with 31:39 remaining on the clock. Rubenstein scored the final goal of the game from just outside the 18-yard box off an assist from Hayden Twiss with 20:49 left to play.  

In a frantic final 10 minutes, Eastside forced Woodward’s defense to make saves and defensive plays in their box to complete the shutout. Even the Woodward crossbar had to  stop a Lady Eagle shot. In the end, the Woodward net-minder made a total of nine saves in the match.

“We played hard [Saturday,] Eastside head coach Joel Singleton said. “We outshot them and controlled possession in our final two-thirds the majority of the match but could not find the back of the net. It was frustrating in many ways.”