COVINGTON, Ga. — The Eastside Lady Eagles (2-0) won a hard-earned victory over the Loganville Lady Red Devils (2-2) from Region 8-AAAAA by a score of 4-3 on a cool Valentine's Day Thursday evening at Homer Sharp Stadium in Covington. 

The match was the first between the two schools since 2011. And just like that 2011 match, won by Eastside 5-4, the final outcome was not assured until the game clock read 0:00. 

Loganville (2-2) took a 1-0 lead just under five minutes into the match when Zoey Smith scored off a corner kick. Aralyn Everett knotted the match at 1-1 at the 28:27 mark off a ball from Bailey Love. With 19 minutes left till halftime, Smith scored her second goal off another Lady Red Devil corner kick to put Loganville up 2-1. 

Eastside freshman Lizzie Teasley, fresh off the basketball courts and playing in her first varsity soccer game, netted her first varsity goal when her corner kick found the back of the net for the equalizer with 12:33 left in the first half. 

After a 50-50 first half, the teams entered the break tied at 2-2.

The Lady Eagles appeared to have taken a 3-2 lead less than four minutes into the second stanza, but a beautiful free kick goal by Teasley was disallowed. 

In live action it looked as if the Lady Red Devil keeper knocked the shot up and off the cross bar. The ball bounced around in front of the goal before Everett slid herself, and the ball, into the net. 

In spite of the disallowed goal, within a minute Eastside took a 3-2 lead when Everett scored on a header off a Katie Oakley cross with 35:22 on the clock. At the 22:43 mark, Loganville's Kalie King knotted the match for a third time at 3-3 when she buried the ball in the Eastside net from just outside the 18-yard box.

Eastside's Everett would score the game-winning goal with 12:43 remaining when she took a headed ball from Oakley, drove deep down the right sideline, and launched a long shot that found the net for the 4-3 final. 

In the end both teams played well. Lady Eagles keeper Anna Shelton and her defense turned in another impressive performance in support of the offense. 

Afterward, Eastside girls coach Joel Singleton lauded his team’s efforts. 

“This was an excellent team victory for us,” Singleton said. “We really played an evenly matched team today, and both battled until the very end. I’m so proud of our resolve and mental toughness in the second half. We made some adjustments at halftime, and the girls did a beautiful job of executing in the second half.” 

Singleton honed in specifically on Shelton’s play, as well as the offensive prowess and potential of Everett and Oakley. 

“Aralyn Everett and Katie Oakley have started developing some chemistry with their speed and quickness, and it’s only making us that much stronger,” he said. 

Eastside will travel to face Whitewater next Friday at 5:55 p.m.

Eastside boys get huge performance from Jolley in win

Just as the Lady Eagles, the Eastside boys squad also took care of business against Loganville, scoring a 7-3 win in a game where Jackson Jolley scored the hat trick, plus one with four goals. 

Liam McGiboney, Kevin Manley and Creighton Goerner also found the scoreboard for the Eagles (1-1), and Jordan Beam, Kade Mote and Manley found their way into the assists column as well. 

It was a good bounce-back win for Eastside after a hard-fought 4-2 defeat at the hands of Johnson last Friday. The Eagles will next travel to Fayetteville to face Whitewater next Friday at 7:55 p.m.