BUFORD — The Buford girls soccer team will put the old adage of beating the best to be the best to the test yet again on Tuesday.
The fourth-ranked Lady Wolves secured a spot in next week’s Class AAAA semifinals with a gritty 1-0 victory over fifth-ranked Grady Saturday at home. They will play host to No. 2 St. Pius in the semifinals.
The Lady Golden Lions have been a rose bush-like thorn in the side of the Lady Wolves, who will be making their fifth trip to the semifinals. St. Pius knocked Buford out of the 2013 (semifinals) and 2015 (quarterfinals) playoffs two of the last three seasons.
But coach Drew Eager said he senses a different vibe this time around.
“You want to play the best to be the best and St. Pius is certainly one of the best programs in the state regardless of classification,” Eager said. “I think the girls are looking forward to it. They were a young group the last we played them in the semifinals. But they know it will be a challenge.”
It is the fifth time the Lady Wolves have advanced to the semifinals. They are looking for their first-ever trip to the state finals.
The Lady Wolves (18-2) got the lone goal of the match in the 18th minute when senior Elexa Bahr buried a cross from freshman Sydney McCullough, who had gathered a nice pass into the corner from Cameron Hall, past Grady keeper Anne Poznyak.
It played out as a defensive battle the rest of the way. And senior captain Isabelle Grest did everything but sell concessions to make sure it stayed that way.
Grest on nearly a dozen occasions thwarted Grady attacks, whether from a midfield position or as a back defender.
“That’s what you want from your captain,,” Eager said. “Isabelle played a tremendous game. She can play pretty much anywhere you want her on the field but she can really read the plays so well I felt having her back there would strengthen our defense. It did.”
The Buford defense did not allow a shot on goal in the first half. Grady, however, turned up its offensive pressure in the second half.
The Lady Wolves defense cracked only occasionally but did not yield a shot on goal until the 60th minute. The Lady Knights tried deep balls down the lines and high-bouncing passes down the middle to no avail.
In the final 20 minutes, however, Grady (12-5-2) was able to take advantage of a couple of misplayed balls to generate their only two corners of the match.
Grady generated a free kick with 14 minutes left just outside the Buford box but Lady Wolves’ keeper Caliegh Rowan made a tremendous save to keep it a 1-0 Buford lead.
Three times over the next six minutes Grady pushed into Buford territory but twice the defense took control and Rowan made another save on a potential cross.
Grady’s last best chance came with four minutes left when the Lady Knights got the last of their two corners. A wild scramble ensued on the kick and Rowan was able to snare a shot from point-blank range to keep the lead in tact.
“Caliegh came up big for us,” Eager said. “That was tough because she really hadn’t been challenged until the last half of the second half and to make the plays she did under that kind of pressure was tremendous.”
Now Eager said they will turn their focus on trying to find a way to reverse their fortunes against the Lady Golden Lions.
“We’re just going to have to play our style,” he said. “They’ve been our nemesis but I feel confident about where we are right now.”
