FPD finishes perfect season in perfect way, a shutout for a state championship (with video)
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Inside the first few minutes, Athens Academy goalkeeper Greer Moseley made a quality save of an FPD shot in traffic.
It wasn’t the omen the Spartans hoped it might be.
Maggie Davis put the ball in the right side of the net with 14:08 left in the first half, and another goal came after the ball bounced around off Moseley’s hands early in the second half as No. 2 FPD stopped No. 1 Athens Academy 2-0 Saturday for the GHSA Class A girls soccer championship at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium.
“I’m exhausted,” FPD senior midfielder Elizabeth Nelson said. “We worked our butts off.”
And they celebrated their butts off, after waiting for a clock to finally wind down in a game they gained control of in the second half. Nelson admitted she thought as much.
“Probably, honestly, not until 10 minutes into the second half,” she said. “Maybe the beginning, when we got that second goal. We were possessing a lot more. We had it a lot more on their our side than on our side.”
FPD had a little possession edge for a chunk of the first half, but Athens Academy evened that out for the final 40 percent of the half. Except for Davis’ goal.
But the Spartans, against a defense that hasn’t allowed a goal since April 17 against Class 5A Jones County and started the season with eight straight shutouts, couldn’t get any really solid shots on goal, and trailed 1-0 at the half.
The Vikings came out sharper in the second half, and didn’t need long to get an almost insurmountable two-goal lead.
Lily Peavy’s corner kick headed toward the net, took a fortuitous FPD bounce off Moseley's hands for a header from junior Jansyn Samples.
Athens Academy then had 35 minutes left to get something going in a low-scoring game, something the Spartans were fairly used to.
FPD’s playoff wins were by 10-0, 4-0, 2-0, and 5-0, with Athens Academy’s by 10-0, 1-0, 3-1, and 1-0. But the Vikings ferociously steady defense – FPD gave up only six goals all season en route to the 23-0 record – didn’t give any ground.
“Halftime, I told them we didn’t really possess very well,” head coach Josh Trieste said. “I thought basically our score was just putting forth a lot of effort. We just kind of grinded it out.
“I said, ‘Girls, we can keept he ball, keep our legs …’ We could tell they wanted to play direct. That was just killing us, having to track back those direct balls. I thought we did a much better job of keeping the ball a little bit in the second half.”
The Vikings avenged last year’s championship loss on the same field a year and a day earlier, 4-1 to Wesleyan, after coming in undefeated and having allowed only one goal.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Trieste, whose team last won the Class A title in 2012. “I’ve entered this game as coach undefeated a couple times and not won it, so, these girls just made my season.”