Warriors lift spirits

WATKINSVILLE - A day after Oconee County's previously undefeated boys soccer team suffered a devastating playoff loss, the gloominess still hung over Warrior Stadium.

Perhaps that explained the tentativeness that infected the Oconee County girls team's play early in Wednesday's second-round Class AAA playoff game against Heritage.

The Lady Warriors didn't suffer the same fate as their male counterparts, however. After falling behind 1-0 early in Wednesday's match, they scored four unanswered goals to win 4-1 and advance to Saturday's state quarterfinals.

"I could just feel it today," said Oconee County coach Paul Dallas, whose team will host the winner between Woodward Academy and Northside-Columbus on Saturday. "Everybody was down and it's like, 'Hey, we've still got a game. I'm the only one that's happy tonight.' I really was. It was a strange place to be."

The prevailing emotion after the match was likely relief.

Heritage's Stephanie Shipley put the Lady Generals on the board first when she buried a shot from long distance, furthering the hangover from the boys team's loss the night before.

"Even before that goal was scored, we were playing terribly," Dallas said.

"We knew this team real well. We knew exactly what they would do. I told those girls exactly how (Shipley) was gonna score that goal."

Luckily, the Lady Warriors (19-1) quickly worked out of their funk after the sluggish start, starting with Alexis Thomas' game-tying goal.

Several minutes later, Allie White put Oconee County ahead for good when she scored on a penalty kick with 5:35 left in the first half, putt