By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

With each passing minute, the tension level was amped up a few degrees.

This was a game the LaGrange Academy Lady Warriors figured to win with ease, but as the second half rolled along, they were stuck in a scoreless tie with First Presbyterian Day School from Hinesville in the opening round of the GISA Class AA state tournament.

FPD came into the game with a 3-10-1 record, while LaGrange was 14-4-1.

What looked like a mismatch on paper was anything but, though.

“We were expecting them to put up a good fight, but it was a lot tougher than we expected,” admitted LaGrange Academy goal keeper Jesse Cody said.

The Lady Warriors found a way to win, though, and that’s all that matters this time of year.

Meg Middlebrooks gave the Lady Warriors their much-awaited first goal late in the second half to make it a 1-0 game, and Mallory McGowan capped the scoring with time running down to give her team a 2-0 victory.

LaGrange Academy advances to Saturday’s quarterfinal round.

“It’s a good win, and we’ll be able to build on this,” LaGrange Academy coach Mike Petite said. “I think they learned that you have to be ready to go.”

Middlebrook’s goal gave the Lady Warriors a huge lift.

Senior Molly McGowan made a run, and she fed the ball to Middlebrooks, who banged the ball into the left side of the net.

“I felt like it took the weight off our shoulders,” Middlebrooks said. “We finally got a one-goal lead. It lifted us up. I think I was in the right place at the right time, and I made the right run. We practice that all the time, so it’s second nature to make the run, and you’re right there.”

Mallory McGowan, one of the team’s leading scorers, scored minutes later to give the Lady Warriors a big insurance goal.

“We really had a lot of shots. We were so close,” Petite said. “We just couldn’t find it. Then Meg made just a beautiful run. That’s something we work on in practice.”

Cody said it was important to win to allow the seniors to keep their seasons alive.

“We really wanted to give our seniors another game,” Cody said. “We wanted to win it for them.”

LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN: The Cougars hung tough against the state’s top-ranked GISA Class A team, but they were unable to pull of the upset in the first round of the playoffs.

The Cougars led 1-0 at the half, but Pinecrest scored six goals in the second half to take the 6-2 win.

Nathan Chola scored a goal in the first half to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead at the break.

“Here’s a team that hasn’t trailed all year, and we had them 1-0 at the half,” Lafayette Christian head coach Glenn Quiggle said.

After Pinecrest scored the first three goals of the second half, Johnny Marshall scored for Lafayette Christian to make it a 3-2 game.

The Cougars, Quiggle said, were still fighting.

“We were really dealing with them, and there was still about 20 minutes to go,” Quiggle said.

Pinecrest then finished the game with three goals to pull away.