SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — It was business as usual for the Social Circle Lady Redskins on Wednesday as they shut out Drew Charter 10-0 in the first round of the Class A-Public state playoffs. Tuesday was Social Circle’s 15th shutout win of 2022.
Head coach Heather Richardson was pleased with her team’s performance.
“We are just so excited,” Richardson said. “We are excited to win the first round. I told them [after the game] that it’s time to get back at it tomorrow and take it one game at a time.”
Coming off its toughest match of the season with a 4-3 win at Towns County on April 1, Social Circle came out firing.
Five minutes into the match, Tess Preston found the back of the net, giving the Lady Redskins a 1-0 advantage. Peyton Brooks doubled Social Circle’s lead less than a minute later with a goal of her own.
Brooks followed her inaugural goal with another one five minutes later. Brooks’ second goal gave Social Circle a 3-0 advantage with around 29 minutes remaining in the first half.
Preston netted her second goal of the match with 18:43 remaining in the opening half. Then, she recorded a hat trick with her third goal of the match 1:39 later.
It didn’t take long for Brooks to join the hat trick party, though.
With 9:56 left in the first half, Brooks scored her third goal of the match, which gave Social Circle a 6-0 edge.
Amelia Leigh joined the offensive fireworks, too, with a goal of her own that added to the Lady Redskins’ 7-0 advantage.
That score stayed intact until halftime arrived. Even so, the 7-0 lead caused the second half to be shortened to be a 20-minute half.
Alana Ferguson continued the scoring for the Lady Redskins with 16:05 left in the game. Brooks extended her hat trick, scoring her fourth goal of the contest. Preston did so, too, closing the game out off a penalty kick that she netted that gave Social Circle its definitive 10-0 advantage.
Preston and Brooks’ four goals apiece added to their season total of 63 and 60 goals, respectively.
Both players’ level of play has been huge to the Lady Redskins success all season, according to Richardson.
“They’re just talented players,” Richardson said. “They love to play and are super competitive. They have an eye for the goal and an eye to finish. And they’re definitely doing their jobs this year.”
All 10 goals were assisted on for the Lady Redskins, too.
Preston and Kaylee Connell each had two assists. Leigh, Ferguson, Taylor Wright, Claire Ray, Rory Stowe and Addie Stracner had an assist apiece as well.
As a result of Tuesday’s victory, the Lady Redskins are on to the second round of the state playoffs. Up next will be a matchup with Irwin County High School who defeated Dublin High School 4-3 in their first round contest.
Irwin County is the No. 2 seed out of Region 2A-Public with a 6-5 overall record along with 3-3 record in region play. Social Circle will host the Lady Indians at home on Monday, April 18. The time has yet to be determined.
Even so, Richardson has highlighted the need for her team to continue to focus on themselves and stressed how they plan to hone in on some areas to get even better moving forward.
“We just want to make sure we’re working as hard as possible,” Richardson said. “We also want to work on switching the fields. That’s a big part of how I like to play. We just plan to work on the good things that we’ve been doing this year and continue to keep polishing them up.”
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