Lady Jags pull off nail-biter first region win on Youth Night

Coming off of a heavy 4-7 loss in their first home region game of the season against East Jackson, the Cedar Shoals varsity girls soccer team pulled off a nail-biter 4-3 win against the Eastside Eagles on Feb. 28. This was their first region win of the season, with junior captain striker Zulma Valdivieso-Gutierrez scoring all four goals for the Lady Jags. 

“Games like this really allow me to see my place on the team. I’m proud of myself and I’m glad I could score these goals for my team,” Valdivieso-Gutierrez said.

The game opened with the players standing with elementary students alongside them for the national anthem. The game was promoted by Athens Youth Development allowing free entry to Clarke County School District students K-8, who were encouraged to wear school soccer jerseys to support athletic participation from elementary students.

“Stepping onto the same field as my sister was a moment I’ll never forget, it was really emotional for me because I know that in a couple of years she’ll be where I am right now,” Valdiveso-Gutierrez said.

Although the score was 3-0 for the Jags in the first half, the team still felt that they needed more guidance from their coaches during halftime.

“After the halftime talk with coach, we were encouraged, and it really helped us to do better, eventually leading us to win,” junior captain winger Alejandra Lopez-Pantoja said.

Assistant coach Hannah Doolittle believed that the team could have won by a larger margin but missed multiple opportunities.

“The girls need to build and capitalize on opportunities when they present themselves in a game like that,” Doolittle said.

Doolittle didn’t expect a win due to it only being the fourth game in an 18 game season. Doolittle didn’t know how to predict the results of a big region game so early in the season. 

“I was afraid that maybe we would take a step back a little bit, but as far as the actual performance on the field goes, we’ve been able to maintain our momentum that we worked hard to build last year,” Doolittle said.

Moving forward, the Jags hope to keep up a winning pace as a team. On an individual level, Lopez-Pantoja has small tweaks she’d like to improve on.

“I get a little too tired on the field. I want to work on getting more comfortable with the ball to make those necessary passes to my teammates,” Lopez-Pantoja said.