Lady Grizzlies win spot in Class AAA Final Four The most amazing ride...continues No team in Cherokee County has EVER advanced to the Final Four...until NOW

SEMI SENSATION

But the Lady Grizzlies recovered to record the next four scores for themselves before holding off a late rally to win, 4-3, and extend the longest postseason trip of the program's young existence.

"I think it helped that our girls came out fired up and really wanted to play the game, and it helped that I had a lot of girls I could sub in because of the heat," Creekview coach Kerri Schmitt said.

The Lady Grizzlies advanced to Tuesday's semifinal, but to get a chance to play for a state championship, they will have to find a way to win at top-ranked St. Pius X.

St. Pius is a perfect 20-0 and has outscored its competition by a 131-6 margin.

After theLady Grizzlies' own goal early in Friday's game, Jordan Arthur tied the game for Creekview (12-3-2) just 1 minute later when she found the net with a shot that Richmond Hill goalkeeper Raisa Martinez appeared not to see.

Jordan scored the 1st goal

With 3:20 to go in the half, Richmond Hill's Sarah Goolsby hit the post with a shot. Just seconds before the horn sounded, Creekview hit the crossbar with a shot. The teams went to the break tied, 1-1.

The Lady Grizzlies started the second half quickly, scoring barely 4 minutes in when Whitley Dover pushed the ball into the goal as she collided with Martinez and Richmond Hill defender Jennifer Adams.

Whit scores 2

Cori scores 1

Final Four - Wow!

Cori Dulmage increased the lead to two goals when her shot got past Martinez at the 27:56 mark.

Less than 8 minutes later, the lead grew to 4-1 when Dover took a ball that had been miss-hit by a Wildcat defender and drilled it into the goal.

Richmond Hill began mounting a comeback when Lindsey Vasher scored on a penalty kick with 14:20 to play to cut the lead to 4-2. Eleven minutes later, the margin fell to one after Goolsby headed Vasher's corner kick into the net.

But the Lady Wildcats (18-3) never got another good chance to score, and the Lady Grizzlies were able to run out the clock and seal the victory and their position in the semifinals of the AAA playoffs.

Richmond Hill coach Steve Kollman said desire and missed opportunities had a lot to do with the outcome.

"They wanted it more than we did," Kollman said. "Honestly, we didn't play well the whole first half. We had four breakaway opportunities and didn't convert one of them. The difference was, physically, they wanted it a little more and that we didn't convert on our opportunities, while they did."

Said Schmitt: "My girls stepped up and played the way they needed to play. I am very proud of them. I can't take anything away from Richmond Hill, though. They are a great team. We got a couple of lucky bounces here and there and that helped."


Savannahnow.com
Lady Wildcats lose to Creekview
RICHMOND HILL - The Richmond Hill High School girls soccer team's season ended with a 4-3 loss to the Creekwood Grizzlies in the quarterfinals of the Class-AAA state playoffs Friday night.

"The difference was, physically they wanted it a little more and that we didn’t convert on our opportunities while they did," said Richmond Hill head coach Steve Kollman.

Creekview 4, Richmond Hill 3
Goals – C, Jordan Arthur, Whitley Dover 2, Cori Dulmage. RH, Lindsey Vasher, Sarah Goolsby, own goal.
Assists – C, Morgan Hall, Dulmage, Dover, Kuaren Artise. RH, Vasher.
Saves – C, Jessica Estes 10. RH- Raisa Martinez 7.
Records – C 12-3-2; RH 18-3.

Lady Grizzlies feel good about game

5/1/09
By John Bednarowski (.PDF version of story)
sportseditor@cherokeetribune.com

Creekview's girls soccer team is traveling into uncharted territory.
The ninth-ranked Lady Grizzlies, making their deepest playoff run in program history, will take a five-hour bus ride to the outskirts of Savannah to face fourth-ranked Richmond Hill in the Class AAA state quarterfinals.

What does Creekview coach Kerri Schmidt know about her team's opponent?
"Nothing," she said. "But I feel really good about the game."
And why is that? "We don't know much about them," Schmitt said. "They don't know much about us. The girls are excited and ready to go. We're just going to go out there and play."

Schmitt and the Lady Grizzlies are taking a free-wheeling approach because, on paper, it might not look like Creekview would have much of a chance to come back to Cherokee County a winner. While the Lady Grizzlies (11-3-2) have outscored their opponents by a 62-22 margin, Richmond Hill (18-2) has scored nearly twice as many goals (122) as Creekview and has allowed fewer (15).

"We try not to think about that," Schmitt said. "But 122 goals - that's just crazy."
While the Lady Wildcats' goal tally may be eye-popping, Schmitt fell back on the confidence her team has built throughout the year.
"I feel really good about the game," she said. "We've got nothing to lose. We're the underdogs.

"(But) we've spent most of our games playing good teams like Etowah and Sequoyah, and I think if the girls play the way they can, we can come back with another 'W.'" To do that, Creekview will have to get the continued strong play up front from the trio of Lauren Artise, Whitley Dover and Eli Arthur."

"They're the ones that have scored most of our goals this year," Schmitt said. "They're the ones that give us the scoring opportunities."

If the Lady Grizzlies aren't able to consistently control the ball on the front line, they will count on Sam Logan in the middle and Megan Hill at center back to help flip the field back into their favor. And if Richmond Hill gets behind the defense, then Schmitt expects goalkeeper Jessica Estes to come up big in goal.



"You know they are a good team," Schmitt said of Richmond Hill. "You can tell by who they have played. They've lost twice and their two losses are to teams that are still alive in the playoffs."

But Schmitt said her squad is a good team too, and they plan on living by a simple motto, which will hopefully carry them into next week's semifinals.
"Just let us play one more game," Schmitt said. "We want one more game."