SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — Within the first 25 seconds of Tuesday’s match, Social Circle took the opening possession and had a shot on goal. Two minutes later, the Lady Redskins converted to go up by a score. 

That attacking start laid the groundwork for Social Circle’s 8-1 victory over the East Laurens Lady Falcons at home. 

Coming out of the gate aggressive is just what head coach Heather Richardson ordered. 

“I told them at the beginning of this game — and I tell them at the beginning of every game — ‘If you don’t come out hard and strong, it’s very easy to get scored on,’” Richardson said. “Then, you’ll have an uphill battle and we didn’t want any part of that tonight, because we had a lot of that last week. Yeah, I told them to come out on top and to come out fighting to begin with.” 

Junior Alana Ferguson delivered the two bookend goals for Tuesday’s win. 

Her first goal came when she attacked the Lady Falcons’ right side of the formation. Ferguson drilled a shot past the goalie to place Social Circle up 1-0 just 2:38 into the game. 

On the flip side, Ferguson delivered the final blow in the closing minutes when she was fouled in the box. The junior’s penalty kick attempt was successful at the 1:18 mark of the second half to give her team a seven-goal win. 

Amid Ferguson’s brace was senior Peyton Brooks’ double hat trick. 

Ten minutes following Ferguson’s first goal, Brooks scored to double Social Circle’s lead. Brooks then added on with another goal with 22:36 left in the first half. 

But the senior was far from done with her scoring performance. In fact, Brooks quickly answered East Laurens’ lone goal of the night. 

The Lady Falcons scored off a free kick at the 17:09 mark of the first half. Just 1:05 removed from the goal, Brooks netted her hat trick to increase the Lady Redskins’ advantage 4-1. 

Social Circle’s lead was 5-1 at the half once Brooks tallied her fourth goal with 12:45 before intermission. 

Similar to the first half, it did not take long for the Lady Redskins to notch another score into the back of the net in the second half.

Less than five minutes removed from halftime, Brooks scored again followed by her final score at the 23:45 mark of the second half. 

However, Tuesday’s match was anything but smooth sailing.

There was chippiness across the overall game. Various yellow cards were issued to players in both groups as well as one red card for a Lady Falcon.

Afterward, Richardson commended her players for the way they handled the flow of the game.

“Once the game got going good, we handled it very well,” Richardson said. “I think we learned just to stay calm and keep playing our game and roll with it. We just had to keep playing our game.” 

The Lady Redskins became the second team this year to defeat the Lady Falcons. 

As a result of Tuesday’s win, Social Circle will head to the Final Four of the Class A-Division I postseason. 

They will face off against Mount Vernon at home on Thursday, May 2 at 5 p.m. As a 12-7, No. 3 seed out of Region 6A-Division I, the Lady Mustangs defeated Trion 4-3 in round one, Tallulah Falls 2-1 in the Sweet Sixteen and, on Monday, downed Metter 6-0. 

All three of Mount Vernon’s postseason wins have been on the road.

The Lady Redskins (15-2-1) will at least finish in the top four for the third consecutive season. Last year, they made it to the Final Four along with the year prior’s state title run. 

Possessing that playoff experience is a benefit to the team, per Richardson, and is something she noticed during Tuesday’s victory.

“For sure, we have an extremely mentally tough team. With my class of juniors and seniors that have been here for a while, they’re experienced and they’re tough and they’ve played in tough games and this is just another example of where their leadership came through,” Richardson said. “And they helped the younger girls realize what the road to state is all about.”