GAINESVILLE, Ga. — East Hall moved into second place in Region 8-4A with a thrilling 2-1 win over Chestatee on Friday at the Lynn Cottrell Complex.
The match was scoreless at halftime despite both teams generating several scoring chances. The Vikings defense, led by Jonathan Torres, Yerli Mejia, and Ainor Romero-Turcios limited a potent Chestatee attack in the first half.
But it was the Class 4A fourth-ranked War Eagles who struck first as Javi Rebollar scored off a East Hall turnover in the 44th minute. It only took two minutes for the Vikings to answer, however.
Mejia connected with freshman Jairo Aldaco to tie the match at 1 in the 46th minute. The game stayed that way for nearly 30 minutes.
Orlin Yanes caused a turnover in the Chestatee half, found Mejia down the right side on a give-and-go back to Yanes, who forced Chestatee keeper David Diaz to make a diving stop. But Mejia was able to gather the deflection and use a beautiful bicycle kick to find the net for the lead.
The Vikings improved to 10-2 overall and 6-1 in Region 8-4A with the win, their sixth straight. It also put them one-half game ahead of North Oconee (6-3, 5-1 Region 8-4A) who dropped a 1-0 decision to Seckinger on Friday.
For Chestatee (10-4, 6-3 Region 8-4A) it was the War Eagles’ second straight loss in three days against the top two teams in the region. They face an almost must-win on Tuesday on the road against North Oconee as they close out their legion schedule.
East Hall travels to Cherokee Bluff Tuesday in another huge region match.
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY BOYS 6,
BETHLEHEM CHRISTIAN 2
The Lions opened their GIAA region schedule with a road win on Friday.
Lakeview (2-4, 1-0 GIAA) led 3-0 at the half and never looked back.
Jay Dave paced the offense with a hat trick. Palmer White, Mario Patino, and Frisco Johnson each scored one goal. Bryan Ramsey had 3 assists, Liam Weidner had 2 assists, and Akhil Mangalot had one assist for the Lions.
William Harrison recorded 7 saves in goal as the Lions outshot Bethlehem 30-5 for the game. The score was 3-0 at halftime.
