It was hard

to place the state of mind of the Starr's Mill Lady

Panther soccer team as they headed into the regional

championship on Friday night. The Lady Panthers had lost

to McIntosh in the Golden Isles Shootout and then

returned to regular season play to lose to Brookwood,

2-1.

They

obviously still had confidence, because they blasted

Sandy Creek 16-1 in the first round of the regional

playoffs, but Woodward Academy would give Starr's Mill a

different game entirely. The question remained before

kickoff , how would Starr's Mill respond? Would they be

able to repeat as region champs?

The game

was very physical, both teams played body to body and

would not give their opponent any leeway. Starr's Mill

used their speed to get past Woodward,but Woodward would

whack the ball to safety. The lady Panthers began to

control the ball and the tempo more, stopping any

semblance of a Woodward attack.

Janet Burke

scored the first goal for Starr's Mill, dribbling past

the defender and the keeper before slamming it in.

Roughly ten minutes later, Stacee Sproul connected with

an Alice Martin pass and knocking it past the arms of the

outstretched keeper. "That was a great shot, "

said Coach Jamie Brotemarkle. "She had a difficult

angle and it was a pretty goal." The half ended with

Starr's Mill up 2-0, but towards the end of the first

half the momentum began to shift.

In the

opening minutes of the second half, Woodward took several

shots that were amazingly kept out by goalie Rachel

Sproul. The Panthers eventually settled down and

controlled the pace of the game again. Alice Martin fed

Katie Price a beautiful cross in front of the net and

Price responded, slamming it in and icing the 3-0 victory

for Starr's Mill.

The Lady

Panthers will play Columbus High School on Wednesday

night at Sandy Creek High School at 6 p.m, as they try to

get back to the state finals.

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