Lady Devils hand Fitzgerald first defeat

Published 4:00 pm Thursday, February 16, 2023

TIFTON — The previous two soccer seasons have seen complete dominance from the Tift County Blue Devils. This season’s focus, however, might be the rise of the Lady Devils.

A rapidly improving Tift knocked off undefeated Fitzgerald Wednesday, Feb. 15, 3-2, the Lady Purple Hurricane’s first regular season loss since 2021. Fitzgerald was a final four team in Class AA in 2022.

The Blue Devils, young and themselves making strides every match, battled to a 2-2 tie with Fitzgerald. Both teams were scheduled to take on Lee County Feb. 17 in the Region 1-6A opener.

Tift wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the opener. Abby Goddard passed ahead to Laura Kate Wright, drawing defenders and giving space for Caroline Dotson. Wright noticed and sent a pass to Dotson, who had enough of a clearing on the left side to send a shot past the keeper 12 minutes into the half for a 1-0 lead.

Before the score, the Lady Devils had mostly been defensively battling. Diana Reducindo made a couple of stops and Laura Bautista and Kondria Haggins combined to cut off a potential breakaway. Kim Sanchez had delivered Tift’s best offensive attack until Dotson broke through.

“We switched up our formation,” said head coach Sherri Constable. She talked to her team about spacing and personnel. “They bought in,” she said. Tift has been using younger players to fill out the defense and they have been delivering quality minutes.

Barely 10 minutes after Tift scored, Fitzgerald did the same, slipping a shot in off the left post. That put the momentum on the visitors’ side for some time. Reducindo made a flurry of saves and the Lady Devils held on off Fitzgerald headed a corner kick out of bounds.

The Lady Devils took back over near halftime, putting extreme pressure on goal with three minutes remaining. It began with a Goddard shot that hit off the crossbar back into play, back to Dotson who hit off the left post. That was still in play and Yareli Espinoza loaded up from 15 yards out, only to be denied by the diving keeper.

With so little time left in the half, it seemed unlikely that either team would be able to mount a successful attack. Tift did.

Led by Wright, they drove down the field with 30 seconds to go. Fitzgerald twice was unable to clear and the Lady Devils stole the ball back in the last 15 seconds. Dotson was again right there, scoring from the left side with a mere two seconds showing on the clock.

Reducindo opened the 2nd half by diving for a save on a penalty kick, but Fitzgerald tied the score at 2-2 four minutes into the period.

Goddard was denied on a tip save with 29 minutes remaining, though few chances were there for either side. Espinoza took advantage of a brief flurry, scoring off a throw-in with 19:12 remaining in the game.

Tift’s defense stepped up for the remainder. Reducindo had a tip save and in the final five seconds, the Lady Devils stole the ball to prevent a last shot.

Constable bragged on how well her forwards are communicating and working together.

DEVILS 2, FITZGERALD 2

Bobby Earls’ Blue Devils are very much a 2nd half team this season. Once again, all of their scoring took place after intermission.

Fortunately for Tift, Fitzgerald did not get a head start in the 1st half. Braylon Samuel made his first start in goal for an injured Mike Taylor and neither Samuel nor Fitzgerald’s keeper faced much stress in the first 40 minutes.

It was the Devils who scored first, six minutes into the 2nd half.

Tift go a free kick on their side of the field. It was aimed slightly off frame, into a crowd of Blue Devils in front and right of the crease. Out of that pile, freshman Jordan Lopez jumped higher than everyone, sending a header high into the net.

Sixty-one seconds later, Fitzgerald countered, evening the score at 1-1.

Lopez took control of the offense after the tie, becoming Tift’s engine. He was barely beaten by the keeper to a loose ball, he was wide left on an attempt and the ‘Canes saved a shot of his on another try.

Fitzgerald took a 2-1 lead with 27:21 remaining, cleaning up a rebound after Samuel made an initial diving save.

That caused Lopez to press harder. Fitzgerald had to save one more of his shots, then counted its lucky stars that he could not steer a header.

A throw-in started the sequence that led to the Blue Devils’ second goal. Fitzgerald could not get to a rebound on a Samuel save and Tift controlled it for a second, lost it, but the ‘Canes accidentally knocked it out near the penalty area.

The throw went to Anthony Palomares, who kicked ahead to Lopez. Seeing an opening, Lopez made a run, avoided a tackle attempt and had the final 30 yards for a breakaway. His shot hit the top shelf and with 22:25 left, it was 2-2.

Tift almost took the lead 30 seconds later. Lopez controlled a throw-in off his chest, then bended a sideways shot that was barely high, hitting the netting on top of the goal. Fitzgerald defended one more serious chance with 10 minutes remaining.

Though most of the Blue Devils’ roster reads 11th and 12th grade, overall they are still a young group in terms of experience. Earls said he is seeing progress in every game.

Three of the key players Wednesday, though were freshmen in Samuel, Lopez and Crisstian Salazar.

Earls praised Fitzgerald’s efforts. “They’re a good ball club,” he said.