Athens Academy girls cruise in round two - Oconee Enterprise

The Lady Spartans reassembled all their moving parts and flashed their dominance in the second round of the playoffs.

During the first round of the Class A-Private state tournament, Athens Academy’s girls soccer team was without its leading scorer and its primary goalkeeper. The absence of the goalkeeper moved an important midfielder off the field and into the goal, further mixing things up on the team.

Athens Academy still won in its first-round game, topping Wesleyan School 2-0.

Last week, the Lady Spartans were back in full force and cruised to victory over Fellowship Christian School 7-1.

ClaraJane Williams, who was suspended in round one after receiving a red card in the final regular season game, returned and scored four goals. Riley Friesen kicked in the other three goals to help power the blowout win.

“We could actually attack them instead of having to play forward for position,” Lady Spartans head coach Steve Stewart said about having all of his players back at their usual positions. “We were beating them like stepchildren down the left side. ClaraJane found the hole and she just kept pounding on it, too. That was well done.”

Stewart praised the work of Williams, Riley Friesen, McKenna Friesen and all of his defenders.

He said his team’s barrage of talent overwhelmed Fellowship Christian.

“[Fellowship Christian] did not have enough quality players to match our quality players, so there were mismatches,” Stewart said.

Williams can soon possibly tie or break the all-time Lady Spartans scoring record for a single season, but she had to sit out two weeks ago due to her suspension.

Following last week’s four-goal effort, Williams said she missed being around her teammates on game day during the first round.

“It was weird not playing, for even just a week,” Williams said. “With not playing, it just gets me more excited for the game with all my teammates. During the last game, I wasn't allowed to be in the locker room or be on the bench with my team. I just missed that aspect, not only just playing on the field. Just being with everyone was nice.”

As for goalkeeper, Madeline Ransom again started in place of the injured Meg Williams. That was the case for the last few weeks but, during last week’s second half, Williams returned to the pitch. That allowed Ransom to switch back to midfield and give the Lady Spartans their primary lineup.

Riley Friesen said the team had better cohesion during the second-round game as opposed to the first round against Wesleyan.

“I think we honestly just connected passes better [against Fellowship Christian],” Friesen said. “I think we were all on the same page. I think [against Wesleyan] there was a little bit of miscommunication, just kind of whiffing it and making the wrong runs. But I thought [against Fellowship Christian] we were all on it and were all really connected and played as a team.”

Friesen’s hat trick may have caught some off-guard given her position at midfield.

However, the senior said she was careful to pick out the right opportunity to score. Two of her goals came off corner kicks by teammate Lauren Clementz, who received praise from Friesen.

“I just picked my moments because, obviously, midfielders have defensive responsibilities, so we've been trying to capitalize on set pieces,” Friesen said. “I scored on two corners, so I think that's been a big part of our game is capitalizing on set pieces. Lauren has done a great job getting those balls in and I think she will continue to do great things.”

With Williams and Friesen powering the offense and others generating close scoring chances, the visiting Fellowship Christian players also had to contend with Athens Academy’s stingy defense.

Through their first two playoff games, the Lady Spartans only allowed one goal. They gave up just five goals in their last 16 games entering this week.

“When that back four plays solid, tight and marking and covering for each other, they're really hard to beat,” Stewart said. “Then, a midfielder or two coming down in front of them and kind of shielding them a bit, it's gonna be hard to get through. All [Fellowship Christian] could do was come up the middle on us and that's where we're the strongest.”

Athens Academy hosted The Paideia School in the Elite Eight this past Wednesday after press time.

They entered the game hoping to keep up the dominant streak they started last week. After all, it is do or die in the postseason.

“In the playoffs, we know that every game can be our last game,” Williams said. “We just want to finish our chances as soon as we can. We came here to win and that's all it takes.”