COVINGTON, Ga. — The Eastside Lady Eagles defeated the No. 3 ranked AAA Oconee County Lady Warriors 2-1 Tuesday evening at Homer Sharp Stadium.

Offense, defense and goalkeeping stood out for Eastside all night.

The Lady Warriors peppered the Eastside goal with long shots that went just left, just right or just over the goal in the first half.  

But it was the Lady Eagles who scored first. 

With 33:39 left to play in the first half, defender Jordyn Jones sent a pass to midfielder Lauren Davis who settled the ball, turned and sprinted down the left sideline. Out-running a Lady Warrior defender, Davis sent the ball from the deep left across the Oconee County goalmouth that Eastside's Katie Oakley tapped into the goal at the far post to put Eastside up 1-0.

Later in the first stanza, Bailey Love sent a pass to Davis who sprinted down the left side again only to have a Lady Warrior defender kick the ball out for an Eastside corner. Lady Eagle Mallory Shurtz sent a corner kick that Oakley headed into the Oconee County net to stretch the Lady Eagles lead to 2-0 with 18:17 remaining before the half.

The second half saw the Lady Warriors improve their attack. 

They forced Eastside's defenders to combine with keeper Shelby Bolson to make combination defensive plays that kept Oconee County from scoring. Jones twice made blocks that ended Lady Warrior attacks. 

The Lady Eagles' most crucial defensive play of the match happened with just over 30 minutes left to play when Bolson twice tried to jump on a loose ball in the scoring area only to see the ball escape her grasp. Eventually, Eastside's Hannah Scharf blocked a hard shot with her body that led to Bolson covering up the ball to end the scoring threat. 

Soon after Joanna Funes fired a shot off the near post of the Lady Warriors goal with 29:30 left to play in what proved to be the Lady Eagles' best opportunity of the second half. 

With around three minutes remaining in the contest, Oconee County eventually broke through to end the shutout with a goal of its own. Less than a minute later, a shot by Oconee County hit off the outside left of the Eastside goal with 2:07 remaining. 

From there, Eastside preserved its 2-1 lead to come away with the win. As a result, the Lady Eagles improved to 3-1-1 overall. 

Head coach Joel Singleton commended both his offensive and defensive units for their play all match long.

"We were without Sophia Leal today and the girls all stepped up to make things happen for us,” Singleton said. “Katie Oakley was a difference-maker early with two goals. Lauren Davis and Joanna Funes kept the pressure up big against a very powerful offensive team. I felt like Jordyn Jones and the defense came to play today. Every girl that got into the arch made a positive contribution, I would have loved to have seen us get the shutout, as we were so close, but the win is what's important." 

Eastside Eagles 

In the nightcap, the Eastside Eagles lost 6-1 to the fourth-ranked AAA Oconee County Warriors. 

The Eagles fell behind 4-0 early in the match and never seemed to recover. Thanks to an Ethan Manley goal from outside the scoring box, Eastside avoided the shutout loss. 

With the loss, the Eagles drop to 1-4-0 overall in 2022.  

Both Eastside teams return to action Friday when the Lady Eagles travel to Flowery Branch (0-3-2) while the Eagles travel to Chestatee (3-3-1). 

(Cale Coggins contributed to this report)