The county’s high schools run of spring sports titles could be capped today with three more titles. The McIntosh boys soccer team, the Whitewater girls soccer team, and the McIntosh girls lacrosse teams all play for titles today.
On Tuesday, the Lady Chiefs of McIntosh High School were less than four minutes away from their third straight state championship appearance, but Northgate High School erased a late deficit to send the Vikings to the state finals for the first time in school history.
The Vikings won 2-1 in overtime in Tuesday’s Class AAAAA state semifinals and will play Whitewater High School Saturday for the state championship at noon at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton.
Lily Barron scored the game-tying goal with just 3:59 left in the second half and later the game-winner in overtime on an assist from junior Katie Mitchell.
“You have to tip your cap to Northgate, they played a good game and we wish them the best,” McIntosh head coach Marcia Clark said.
McIntosh’s Hannah Hartman converted a header off a corner kick in the 68th minute to take the slim 1-0 lead.
“We needed to keep attacking; a one-point lead is pretty fragile with that amount of time left,” said Clark.
Just a minute and a half into the first overtime period the Vikings would strike again. McIntosh keeper Deitrick made an aggressive play in an attempt to halt Northgate’s Mitchell, resulting in a three-player collision. Mitchell managed to cross the ball to Barron who landed the game-winning shot.
The McIntosh boys play at 7:30 p.m. against Houston County in Carrollton for their chance at a title. The McIntosh girls lacrosse team plays at Westminster for their shot at a title.
