Splits for Starr's Mill and Whitewater, Lady Chiefs beat Lovett

Starr’s Mill’s boys, ranked first in Class AAAA and third in the state, defeated Northgate 4-1 on Tuesday, while the Lady Panthers, ranked second in AAAA and 10th in the state, lost 1-0.

The Starr’s Mill teams have big games scheduled for next Thursday when they travel up Peachtree Parkway to play McIntosh. The girls game starts at 6 p.m. and the boys will play at 8 p.m.

The McIntosh Lady Chiefs fought to a 3-0 win over The Lovett School Tuesday night in Peachtree City. The Lady Chiefs were in fine form as the team seemed to improve as the match progressed. What began as a back and forth affair for much of the match turned into a comfortable win as the final minutes ran out. Michaela Johnson started the show when she outfought a Lovett defender for a Nikki Atkinson punt to get into goal one-on-one with the keeper. Johnson finished with a quick first touch once through and left the keeper no chance for a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute. The score held at the half as each team’s defense tightened prior to the break.

In the second half, Bethany Austin continued her run of good form with two great finishes. Katie Cameron drilled a cross into the box that found the subtlest of touches from Austin and filled the corner, to double the score with just four minutes remaining. It was Austin again with less than a minute remaining as Hannah Rector played a sharp cross into the box. Austin took one touch before bending the ball beautifully past a diving keeper and into the top right corner to finish off the Lady Lions 3-0.

The defense returned to form as Atkinson, Laura Higgason, Taylor Cook, Brittany Schmidt, Erin Pincombe, and Cameron recorded the team’s ninth shutout in 11 games.

Whitewater’s girls, ranked third in AAAA and 13th in the state, beat Alexander, ranked seventh in AAAA, 1-0 on Tuesday. The Whitewater boys lost 1-0.