Soccer Tigers sweep Ridgeland

The Adairsville girls' and boys' soccer teams both earned Region 6-AAA home victories Monday night as the Tigers swept visiting Ridgeland.

The Lady Tigers scored twice in the final ten minutes to edge the Panthers 5-4 while the Adairsville boys cruised to an 8-0 win.

ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 5, RIDGELAND 4

The Lady Tigers found themselves in a back-and-forth battle Monday night with the visiting Lady Panthers of Ridgeland.

Adairsville led 2-0 early on with goals by Lizzie LeMay and Gabi Becerra in the game’s first ten minutes. Each scorer assisted on the other’s goal.

Ridgeland scored in the 19th minute to cut the Lady Tigers’ lead in half at 2-1.

LeMay gave Adairsville a 3-1 lead five minutes later scoring off Jordyn Hartline’s direct kick.

Ridgeland again cut the lead to one goal by halftime with a goal in the 33rd minute making the score 3-2.

The Panthers tied the game 18 minutes into the second half but Adairsville found a response late in the game.

Emma Ridley scored in the 70th minute to put the Lady Tigers back in front and Becerra added an insurance goal seven minutes later to build another two-goal advantage. Becerra assisted on the go-ahead goal and Gracie Cash had the assist on the final Adairsville goal.

Ridgeland (1-6-3, 1-3) made it interesting in the final minutes with the Panthers’ fourth goal in the 78th minute, but the Lady Tigers held on for the win.

The Adairsville coaching staff credited Piper Tordrup for her defensive play in stopping counterattacks and sending the ball back up the field.

Adairsville (7-3, 2-0) hosts Ringgold in another Region 6-AAA match next Monday at 5 p.m.

ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 8, RIDGELAND 0

Blade Benefield scored three times in the first half Monday night as the Tigers built a 3-0 lead over visiting Ridgeland before the intermission.

Benefield added one more goal to his hat trick in the second half and was credited with one assist as Adairsville tacked on five more goals in the final 40 minutes.

JJ Grimaldo scored twice in the second half and finished the night with a pair of assists. Kyden Silverberg and Matthew Gollaz also scored goals for the Tigers. Arthur Lefler contributed a pair of assists.

Adairsville (5-5, 2-0) hosts Ringgold next Monday in a 7 p.m. kickoff.