Valdivieso-Gutierrez and McGreevy sisters shine in 9-0 victory over East Hall
On Mar. 5, the Cedar Shoals Lady Jags soccer team defeated the East Hall Vikings 9-1, clinching their second region win of the season. The Lady Jags were led by sophomore striker and first team all-region player, Zulma Valdivieso-Gutierrez, who scored five goals.
Alongside Valdivieso-Gutierrez, sophomores Arianna Allen and Kimberly Linares, junior Finn McGreevy and senior captain Lilly McGreevy each scored a goal.
The Lady Jags are 4-5 this season, with wins over Barrow Arts & Science Academy, East Jackson, Chestatee and the Vikings. Coming off of a 6-1 defeat at East Forsyth the previous Friday, the team focused on finding a grove against the Vikings.
“We needed this win. There were a couple games that were really intense and it’s hard when you’re coming back from a strong season to get back into the groove,” Lilly McGreevy said. “It feels like we’ve got more pressure on us, but I felt like our last game we were in the groove and had chemistry.”
Valdivieso-Gutierrez scored the first goal for the Lady Jags, followed by Allen, who used her speed to break through the Viking defense. Valdivieso-Gutierrez scored shortly after, giving the Lady Jags a 3-0 lead 10 minutes into the first half.
“We had a really tough practice the day before the game, so we held a team meeting beforehand and said, ‘Let’s make up for the really awful practice that happened,’” Lilly McGreevy said. “We needed to come up with intensity from the start, so we all were on our toes. I think that was the first game that we really were on our toes like that.”
Lilly McGreevy followed with a penalty kick, giving the senior her first career goal.
“I was really nervous. I wasn’t expecting my name to be called when we got a PK,” Lilly McGreevy said.
Playing as a defensive midfielder, it’s not often that she gets a chance to score.
“I went into my senior year saying that I wanted to score; I wanted to see my name on MaxPreps (under goalscorers),” Lilly McGreevy said.
Her sister followed in her footsteps just a few minutes later. After an East Hall clearance, Valdivieso-Gutierrez took a shot, which bounced off of the crossbar, allowing Finn McGreevy to slot the ball behind the keeper at the back post.
“It was less about the fact that I scored the goal and more about the fact that Lilly and I did it together. Lilly has been there for me since I started playing soccer at the age of eight. When she was taking the penalty kick, I had my fingers crossed behind my back and I was thinking, ‘Please let this be her moment.’ The fact that she did it (scored) and I followed made me remember what I’m in this for, and that my biggest supporter and friend gets to be doing it with me,” Finn McGreevy said.
Up 9-0 with 3:02 left in the first half, head coach Alley Howell gave the starting eleven a curtain call, substituting the entire team, except for Lilly McGreevy, off the pitch.
“The team and Coach Alley decided we’d rather have everyone touch the field and play than mercy ruling someone else,” McGreevy said. “It’s so rewarding to see their faces when they realize they just played their first varsity game.”
In the closing moments of the first half, the Vikings got onto the board, scoring with 1:52 left. With a shortened second half, the game ended in a 9-1 victory; the second-largest regular season victory in the past decade for the Lady Jags.
The Lady Jags are back in action Friday, March 8, away at Cherokee Bluff, before returning home for back-to-back games against Madison County at 5:30 p.m. and Seckinger at 7:30 p.m. on March 12 and 15 respectively. Tickets are available on GoFan.
Photos by Isabella Morgan and Katie Kulik.
