Whitewater and Starr's Mill split, McIntosh over Fayette in soccer rivalries

Friday night’s soccer action featured some rivalry games, but only one set produced any fireworks.

Whitewater and Starr’s Mill’s girls faced off at 5:30 p.m. and the top ranked Lady Wildcats (8-0) won 3-0 behind a goal and two assists from Erin Emerson. Courtney Reddick and Savannah Jordan both knocked in goals off free kicks from Emerson late in the second half.

Whitewater head coach Heather Allen stated that prior to Friday’s game, Emerson had never scored against Starr’s Mill. Asked what she could say about her forward that hasn’t been said already, she answered, “that’s why she’s a captain and an All-American.” Whitewater felt that the key to a victory would be dominating the midfield and they did, often appearing one step ahead of the third ranked Lady Panthers (7-2).

In the boys game that followed, Whitewater (4-3) gave Starr’s Mill (7-0-1), ranked second in Class AAAA, all they had but fell short 2-1. Chase Park and Kevin O’Connor both scored for the Panthers while Preston Gayton earned an assist. Vincent Easterbrook scored on a penalty kick for Whitewater.

Starr’s Mill plays at Northgate tomorrow, while Whitewater plays at Lithia Springs. Whitewater will take on McIntosh in Peachtree City on Friday.

McIntosh hosted Fayette County on Friday and both the top ranked boys team (10-0) and the girls (7-1), ranked third in Class AAAA, won in shutouts. The boys won 10-0 and the girls won 8-0. Gabby Seiler and Laura Higgason each had a hat trick in the win, while Erin Pincombe and Emily Lecomte each had one goal.

Danielle Gray, Michaela Johnson and Seiler each had an assist.
On Saturday, the Chiefs faced Marist and won 4-1. The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 at the half but McIntosh came out strong to take the win over the Eagles, ranked fifth in Class AAAA. Friday night’s win made boys coach Bunky Colvin the winningest coach in school history with 187 wins.

Also, the McIntosh boys JV team picked up a 2-1 win over Marist before the varsity game.

Both the McIntosh boys and girls shutout Mays in games that were called early. The Lady Chiefs won 13-0 and got four goals from Erica Prather, two a piece from Pincombe, Christine Villanueva and Higgason and a goal a piece from Seiler, Lecomte and Katie Cameron. The boys won 9-0. Josh Ball had a hat trick, Josh Slepicka and Ryan Navarre each had two goals and Chris Therrell and Dan Lenz each had one.

In other local soccer action, Landmark Christian split with Pike County. The girls (5-2) lost 4-2, while the boys (7-0) won 3-0. Our Lady of Mercy’s boys (5-4-1) lost to Aquinas, ranked 10th in Class AA/A, 5-3 on Friday and South Paulding 6-02 on Saturday. The Lady Bobcats (6-4) lost those games too, 7-1 to Aquinas and 9-0 to South Paulding.

Our Lady of Mercy will host Pike County and Sandy Creek will play at Alexander tomorrow.