TOCCOA — The North Hall girls soccer team has played the underdog role very well in this year's Class 3A playoffs.
But the Lady Trojans (9-5 Region 7-3A No. 4 seed) may have just shed the underdog title after the come-from-behind 5-4 win over No. 2 seed Stephens County (11-3 Region 8-3A No. 2 seed) on Monday in the second round of the Class 3A tournament on the road.
In classic North Hall fashion, the Lady Trojans, playing short-handed, battled back from a 4-2 deficit to stun the Indians at The Reservation. It's the second week in a row North Hall has defeated a higher seed.
The Lady Trojans knocked off Adairsville, a No. 1 seed, 2-1, last week. They'll travel to No. 2 seed Pike County next week in the quarterfinals.
“We came into the game today with only 14 fit players and the girls gave absolutely everything," Head Coach Alex Wright said. "We took some risks the final 20 minutes and threw caution to the wind and fortunately for us, it worked.”
Indeed it did.
Paola Alvarez led the Lady Trojans, who were down two goals with 20 minutes left, with three goals, including the final two to complete the rally.
Michelle Tymchuk, however, scored the third goal to cut the lead, 4-3. It was her second goal of the night and 35th of the season.
“Michelle and Paola stepped up for us when we needed them the most, and I’m so proud of how the team grafted during the last ten minutes," Wright said. "It’s been a Cinderella journey for us so far, and we will enjoy the occasion next Tuesday.”
The Lady Trojans scrimmaged Stephens County earlier this season and won, 2-1. Wright said that scrimmage helped in preparation for the playoff game.
“Having played Stephens earlier in the season, we knew we were going to be up against it," Wright said. "They have a bigger squad than ours and some very talented players. It could have gone either way tonight, and we are delighted that we saved our best 20 minutes for the end of the game.”
SECOND ROUND SCOREBOARD, Monday, April 26
CLASS 3A
Westminster girls 10, Cherokee Bluff 0
North Hall girls 5 at Stephens County 4
Oconee County girls 3, White County 2
CLASS A PUBLIC
Atlanta Classical Academy girls 2, Commerce 1 2OT
Towns County girls 3, Drew Charter 2
CLASS A PRIVATE
Holy Innocents girls 5, Lakeview Academy 3
SECOND ROUND GIRLS SOCCER SCHEDULE
(Games listed by date and classification, highest to smallest)
(Games listed by visiting team in alphabetical order)
(Area teams highlighted in bold)
Tuesday, April 27
CLASS 3A
Greater Atlanta Christian girls (R5, S2) at Lumpkin County (R7, S1), 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 28
CLASS 6A
Lassiter girls (R6, S2) at Buford (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Flowery Branch girls (R8, S3) at Marist (R6, S1), 5 p.m.
Jefferson girls (R8, S3) at Northwest Whitfield (R7, S1), 6:30 p.m.
CLASS 2A
Banks County girls (R8, S3) at Model (R7, S1), 5:30 p.m.
Pace Academy girls (R6, S2) at Rabun County (R8, S1), TBD
Union County girls (R8, S2) at Lovett (R6, S1), 5:30 p.m.
