Cartersville soccer teams earn non-region wins Friday night

The Cartersville girls soccer team defeated visiting Heritage-Catoosa Friday night in non-region action 3-0 while the boys team also picked up a non-region victory at Walker, 4-1.

CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 3, HERITAGE-CATOOSA 0

The Lady Canes defense kept them in the game in a scoreless first half and the offense found its way in the second half for a 3-0 win. Micah Vance scored Cartersville’s first goal in the 50th minute off a free kick assist by Devondria Johnson. A Kendyl Anderson corner kick in the 51st minute ultimately resulted in an own goal to make the score 2-0, and Abbey Craig found the net in the game’s 61st minute off an assist from Vance for a 3-0 final score.

“We came out flat, but some great play by the defensive line of Janet Zazueta, Emma Baker, Devondria Johnson, Trista Kelly, and goalkeeper Britany Lewis kept us in the game in the first half,” said Cartersville coach Chad Murray. “The girls turned it around in the second half,” Murray continued. “We out-worked and out-hustled them in the second half and kept them from taking a shot. We played like a totally different team in the second half.”

CARTERSVILLE BOYS 4, WALKER 1

The Cartersville boys found themselves trailing early in the first half at Walker Friday night, but found a way to slow down the Wolverines speedy forwards and take control of possession in the second half for a 4-1 non-region win. Walker led at halftime 1-0, before the Hurricanes began creating more frequent chances. Joan Vargas scored the tying goal early in the second half off an assist from Joel Zazueta. Two minutes later, Cartersville took the lead for good when Brady Craig scored on a header off a nice corner by Alex Rios.

With 20 minutes remaining, the Hurricanes went down a man due to a red card but the offense still found a way to score. Pedro Ghanem made a nice feed to Craig in the 63rd minute and he scored his second goal underneath a sliding goalkeeper. Then Joan Vargas finished off the scoring with a goal from a blocked penalty kick that he hit into the opposite corner over the keeper.

The Hurricanes continued their pressure over the final fifteen minutes and limited opportunities for Walker to burn the remaining time off the clock.

The Lady Canes (4-0) and Hurricanes (4-2) return to the pitch Tuesday night at home against Northwest Whitfield. The doubleheader kicks off at 5:30 p.m.