The Eastside girls and boys soccer teams suffered a region sweep Friday night against the Chestatee War Eagles, dropping a pair of contest in Region 8-AAAA action.
In the early contest, the Lady War Eagles defeated Eastside 1-0, while the boys program dropped the Eagles 2-1.
In a reversal of normal roles, the Lady Eagles took on Chestatee in the late contest under the lights, but Eastside’s offense couldn’t find that light at the end of the goal. Despite giving up just one score, the Lady Eagles were unable to put one in the back of the net, falling 1-0.
“It was very physical tonight,” Lady Eagles coach Joel Singleton said. “There were players on both sides going at it pretty hard. There were times when a ball was involved, and times when it wasn’t.”
At the 27:54 mark in the first half, the Lady War Eagles scored the game’s first and only goal. Chestatee’s Ashley Grant netted the score, pushing the Lady War Eagles ahead 1-0.
Both teams continued to compete hard in the first half, but the Lady War Eagles went into the half with a 1-0 lead.
The second half mirrored the first and Eastside seemed to find a little more offensive rhythm, putting together a handful of scoring opportunities. However, Eastside was unable to finish around the net and couldn’t convert when they had scoring opportunities.
“Things did get a little more dynamic for us, but we’re just looking to punch it through the back of the net,” Singleton said.
The Lady War Eagles finished off the hard fought game with the 1-0 victory, holding Eastside scoreless in the second period.
“The girls keep fighting and competing,” Singleton said. “I’ve never been more proud of a team than I am of these girls right now and that’s the truth. Chestatee was No. 2 in our region last year and top 10 in the state. They’re still very good this year.
“We’re a young team in a really good region,” he said. “It (the region) was good last year and it’s better this year. We’re not going to have the easy way out.”
Chestatee edges Eagles
In the early game, the Eagles and War Eagles played a competative contest.
The War Eagles scored the first goal of the game to go up 1-0 and Chestatee added to its lead at the 25:57 mark in the first half on a goal from Arnold Gamez, extending their advantage to 2-0.
Both teams continued to play a great pace for the remainder of the half, but the War Eagles remained on top, going into halftime with a two-goal lead.
The Eagles came out looking more determined to get on the score board in the second half, but Chestatee remained focused on keeping them off of it. However, 14 minutes into the period, the Eagles scored on a goal from Jerry Marban, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Despite the goal, the Eagles remained scoreless for the rest of the game, as the defense of the War Eagles proved to be too much.
“We just didn’t finish opportunities,” Eagles coach Champ Young. “We played hard, we play hard every time we play them. We had them. We had four or five opportunities in the last six minutes, but we didn’t convert.”
Eastside has a week off before resuming play against Stephens County on March 21.
