Colquitt soccer teams sweep Tift

Published 7:00 pm Saturday, March 11, 2023

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Colquitt County varsity soccer took home another double win when both the Packers and Lady Packers defeated their non-region competitors, the Tift County Blue Devils, on Friday night at Packer Park.

The Lady Packers won 3-1 and the Packers won 1-0.

The Packers are now 6-2 overall, and the Lady Packers are 4-4.

After only five minutes of game play, the Lady Packers trailed 1-0 when the Blue Devils managed to get the ball past every Colquitt County player for a goal.

However, that would be the only goal for Tift County and the Lady Packers didn’t even let them maintain their lead for long.

Jessica Sanchez scored the first goal for the Lady Packers with about 29 minutes left in the first half.

The Lady Packers made five more shot attempts before halftime, but none hit their target.

Goalie Jacey Wetherington also had a busy first half. She saved 11 shot attempts and that only counts direct shots toward her or breakaways she was able to stop.

One breakaway, Wetherington fearlessly ran out from the goal to the top corner of her box and met the Lady Blue Devil head on. With a perfectly timed pounce, she covered the ball and her opponent went toppling over.

At the half, the score was 1-1.

“Our motto is play hard, play smart,” said head coach Colby Simpson. “That’s what they did tonight. They played consistently.”

The Lady Packers had the score up to 3-1 before they were midway through the second half.

Mollie Hewett scored a goal after Krystal Guerrero executed a cross-shot, creating a opening in the goal.

The final goal for the Lady Packers was scored by Lynnsey Luttrell, in an unexpected slow-motion lob over the goalie’s head with an almost snails-paced roll past the goal line.

Haley Linsley received several hip-checks throughout the game and got knocked down multiple times by an aggressive Tift player and that player received a yellow card for a particularly aggressive shove late in the second half.

Linsley didn’t let it get to her however, and she jumped back up after every fall and got straight back into the game.

“This was a big win,” said assistant coach Carlos Bautista. “This is a special night and it felt very good.”

Friday night’s games were special because it was also senior night at Packer Park.

Between the two games, all senior Packers and Lady Packers were acknowledged for their contribution to Colquitt County athletics and given a flower after being escorted down center field.

After a loud applause for the seniors, the Packers’ game got underway.

“Their goalie kept them in the game,” said head coach Jimbo Jarvis. “He played great, and if he wouldn’t have been there we easily would have gotten seven or eight goals.”

As it was, the score remained 0-0 at halftime, but this wasn’t for lack of effort.

The Packers had 18 shots on goal during the first half, and, as with the Lady Packers, that stat only includes direct shot attempts. Corner kicks, indirect kicks and having the ball close to the goal were not counted.

If those were included, the number would be much higher as the Packers had several moments where the ball was floating around the goal box with multiple players from both teams. The Packers just couldn’t sneak the ball past the line.

The defense also did a phenomenal job shutting down Tift County.

Luke Brogdon and Nataim Garcia both chased the ball down several times and took it away from the Blue Devils to send back up field to their teammates.

Midfielder Adrian Gallardo also had several great defensive plays.

Toward the end of the first half, the Blue Devils received a yellow card for aggressive play when Packer player Josue Ramirez got shoved from behind.

Going into the second half, the energy in the stands was electric. Because it was senior night, both the home and away seating was at capacity and many people had to stand to watch the game.

Of the 15 shot attempts made in the second half, Luke Brogdon was the only one successful in getting the ball to touch the inside of the netting.

The score became 1-0 with about a half hour left on the clock.

In those last 30 minutes, Tift county managed to get another two yellow cards. Colquitt County received one yellow card as well.

“I feel like the referee called a good game,” said Jarvis. “We have some things we need to clean up on.”

Goalie Jackson Glenn had an easy game with only three saves in the first half and two it the second. However, his last save was only minutes before the final whistle, and it kept the game from going into overtime.

The Lady Packers and Packers will travel to Camden County on March 17 for their next region matches.