POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Sadly, it was a movie Buford coach Megan Hill and the Wolves faithful had seen before.
Dominating defensive play. Shot after shot on offense. But also missed opportunity after missed opportunity.
For a second straight year, the Lady Wolves saw their season end in the finals in the penalty kick phase, this time to Walton in the Class 6A finals at Cantrell Stadium on Thursday. Lady Raiders’ keeper Graycen Ehlen made two stops in the PK round that propelled them to a 1-0 victory (4-2 in PKs) for their first-ever state title.
Buford (21-1) outshot Walton (20-2) more than 2-to-1 for the game, including hitting the crossbar or post four times and watching three other point-blank range shots in regulation and overtime slide just past the goal.
Hill did her best to hide her frustration.
“Like I said last year, when you get to PKs, it's a coin flip at that point. And we've been on the latter part of that coin flip for the past two years,” she said after consoling an obviously dejected group of Lady Wolves.
“Unfortunately, that is the story of our past two years. We knew it was going to come down to chances, and we had plenty of opportunities. And I don't think that my girls should hang their heads on the PKs. I know they get caught up in PKs, but we had plenty of opportunities in front of the goal.”
With a pair of defenses that had allowed just 17 goals in 42 games, one goal may have been enough. In the opening minutes, both teams pushed forward, looking for a quick strike.
The Lady Wolves got deep into Walton territory twice in the first two minutes but could not produce a quality look. Walton blasted a long ball into the Buford zone but could not get a shot off.
In the 14th minute, Izzy Skinner’s 58-yard direct kick nearly got over the head of Ehlen, who was forced to make a last-second leaping catch in front of the goal line.
The best chances for both teams in the first half came just after the midpoint in a 4-minute span. To that point, Walton had been inside 30 yards just twice in the first 20 minutes.
But the Lady Raiders got a nifty run down the right side off a throw-in with Jessica Kong eventually feeding Haidyn Jenkins inside the box in the 22nd minute. But Natalie Dinh’s diving save for Buford from just 5 yards out kept it scoreless.
The Lady Wolves immediately countered, with Sophia Martelli’s blast from 35 yards requiring a diving save from Ehlen in the 24th minute. A minute later, Kong found Nicole Noorbehesht on a pass into the box. But Noorbehesht’s shot hit the crossbar.
Another late push by both squads in the final six minutes also nearly netted the first goal.
Another long direct kick blast by Skinner sailed off course in the 34th minute for Buford. Walton had two chances in a 2-minute span, just missing a header on a cross in the 36th minute, and Sophia Mitravich’s 1-timer off a corner cross from Brooke Merlin slid just wide left in the 38th minute.
Buford got the last chance, driving into the Walton box in the final 10 seconds. But neither Martelli nor Sabrie Vargas could get a shot off as Ehlen was able to jump on it just off the goal line just moments before the halftime whistle.
The second half had some wide-open stretches as well. The Lady Wolves just missed a header in the 54th minute another Skinner direct kick shot required a save in the 55th.
Walton had a corner in the 59th, and Dinh had to make a diving save on a 35-yard Lady Raiders blast in the 62nd minute.
Buford’s Evany Torres nearly scored on a nifty shot from just to the right of the goal, but it hit the top of the crossbar. A minute later, Torres was denied another opportunity by a diving tackle inside the box. Martelli had shots in the 74th and 75th minutes sail high.
But the best chance came in the waning moments when Torres fed Vargas inside the box. A Vargas one-timer at the far post slid just past with just 22 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.
In the first overtime, Torres had a shot inside 5 yards that Ehlen denied, and Buford had another chance snuffed out by an offensive foul inside the box.
Buford had chances in the 91st and 94th minutes in the second overtime. Ehlen stopped a Torres header off a direct kick from Skinner, and a Kaylen Brown blast was blocked, and Ehlen made a save on Vargas’s rebound shot inside the box.
“Defensively, we held down the fort, and we were able to adjust and layer within our defense,” Hill said. “We weren't able to hold the ball up like we should have and get our outside attacking, outside backs involved (on offense). So there are some things that, yes, I think that we could have done better. But again, we had chances in front of goal and just weren't able to deliver.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/5/1291188/state-finals-buford-girls-5-15-25