JEFFERSON, Ga. — After a six-goal outburst in the quarterfinals, Jefferson girls coach Molly McCarty made stopping Cherokee Bluff’s Bristol Kersh their top priority on Thursday in the Class 3A semifinals.
Defenders Arielle Vermillion and Khloe Robertson, with help from a host of others, held the national prospect to just four shots, no goals, and one assist as the Lady Dragons rode their classification-best defense to a 5-2 win at home.
“We knew we would have to double her, and we knew that once we started backtracking, that's when she picks her speed up,” McCarty said of Kersh and how dangerous she can be in the open field. “Ariel and Khloe in the middle just played phenomenal.
“We normally come out with three in the back, but this game, we knew we had to stop her. We had to stop the attack. I thought the entire group did a great job overall.”
It was the second win of the season for Jefferson (17-3) over the Lady Bears (14-7), but the first with Kersh in the lineup. The Lady Dragons knocked off Bluff 2-0 back on March 7 in the Region 8-3A regular season.
Jefferson’s speed across the entire formation was just too much for the Lady Bears.
“That’s the deepest, fastest, most complete team in Class 3A, and their speed is just killer at virtually every position,” Cherokee Bluff coach Heath Padgett said. “The two early goals really hurt, but I was proud of how we fought back a couple of times. Two straight Final 4s, so that’s something to build on. We’re getting closer every year.”
Now, McCarty and the Lady Dragons will move on to play another Region 8-3A foe in Oconee County in the title match on Wednesday at McEachern High School. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.
The Lady Warriors beat Whitewater 3-1 on Thursday in the other semifinal.
“This is something that every one of these girls who are dressed out right now, whether they played today or not, they've all contributed to this moment,” McCarty said. “Oconee has seen us, we've seen them. We had a couple of missing pieces when we played them the first time [a 1-0 win at home on March 21].
“I didn't feel like it was our best game. But as we've gotten through the playoffs, we've just played a little bit better each game. Can’t wait to get there.”
Jefferson opened the game with a set play that saw a Gabby Garnett shot off the kickoff hit the top of the net in the first 30 seconds. From there, Bluff went on the attack over the first 8 minutes. But the Lady Dragons' defense denied two potential scoring opportunities.
Then Jefferson got the break it was looking for, while disaster struck for Bluff. Following a long ball down the right side, a cross by Lily Gaddy into the middle resulted in a Bluff own goal off a defender's deflection just as the keeper, Brookly Roberts, was about to control the ball.
Four minutes later, Gabby Garnett found the net for a 2-0 lead, and then, on their first corner, the Lady Dragons made it 3-0 on a Mia Smith header in the 18th minute.
But Bluff finally got its offense going. Kersh had a nifty give-and-go inside the box and then found Tori Hunter alone on the right side, who punched it in to trim the lead to 3-1 with 5:05 left in the half.
Less than four minutes into the second half, the Lady Dragons added on when Liv Siebels found the net off a rebound off a Smith shot for a 4-1 lead.
Ten minutes later, Ashley Scott cut the lead in half for Bluff, scoring on a beautiful 35-yard direct kick with 25:10 left.
But that would be as close as they could get, as Jefferson scored on another corner with just under 8 minutes remaining.
