Creekview
Soccer Remains
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By Greg Oshust 4/26/2009
goshust@cherokeetribune.com
Creekview is the only Cherokee County representative remaining
in the state soccer playoffs as both its boys and girls teams moved
on to the second round. The Grizzlies and Lady Grizzlies are the
teams left standing after Etowah's boys and girls and Sequoyah girls
lost their first-round games.
The Creekview boys will go on the road to play fourth-ranked St. Pius
X in the Class AAA playoffs Wednesday. The ninth-ranked
Lady Grizzlies will host 10th-ranked Riverwood on Tuesday at 6:30
p.m.
While the Creekview boys (11-4-1) are making their first state playoff
appearance, coach Shawn McClellan isn't dwelling on the postseason
inexperience of his players or the experience their opponents may
have. "Of course, this is new territory for us," McClellan
said. "We have St. Pius ahead of us, but we're not focused on
the caliber of our opponents. We're just focused on our own game and
continuing to do the things that got us here in the first place."
Creekview showed little inexperience as it defeated Eastside, 3-2
- getting the edge with a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks - in its
first-round game Friday.
The Grizzlies held on to win in PKs after Eastside came back to erase
a 2-0 Creekview lead and tie the game to send it into overtime.
"The boys were a little tense at first, but it didn't take long
for them to get going," McClellan said. "We put a lot of
pressure on Eastside and we didn't let up. The boys played well both
offensively and defensively."
Marcus Nettesheim and Jeffrey Hunter each scored one goal to lead
the Grizzlies to the win.
Creekview will now face a St. Pius team that has been one of the top
teams in the state the last few years. The Golden Lions, the top seed
from Area 5AAA, advanced to the state semifinals in 2005 and were
state quarterfinalists in '06 and '07 in Class AAAA.
The Creekview girls (10-3-2) are making their second consecutive state
playoff appearance, having lost to Paideia in the first round last
year.
The Lady Grizzlies took a step further this
year after beating Stephens County, 3-1, on Thursday to secure the
first state playoff win in the program's history.
"We're pretty excited about it," Creekview coach
Kerri Schmitt said. "To play in the second round is the next
step for us, and the girls are ready to go."
Creekview trailed, 1-0, at halftime against Stephens County, but Lauren
Artise, Eli Arthur and Whitley Dover scored in the second half to
give the Lady Grizzlies the win.
"We were down, 1-0, at halftime, but the girls didn't give
up," Schmitt said. "Stephens County was a tough opponent.
It was a good win for us."
Schmitt expects a tough challenge from Riverwood, which is the second
seed from 5AAA.
"Riverwood is a very strong team," Schmitt said.
"It's going to be a tough match. We're going to have to play
our best to beat them."
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