The Newsome High girls soccer team finally turned the tables on Lakeland Jenkins, beating the nationally ranked No. 3 team, 2-1, in the Class 5A-Region 2 final Friday night.
The Wolves, ranked fourth nationally by ESPNRISE, had been eliminated by the Lakeland team in the region final three consecutive years.
"This year, our girls came in ready to play,'' Coach Kelly Townsend said. "They have been talking about this since September. Jenkins has been their focal point and we were not going to let anything stand in the way of that.''
Defensive midfielder Jacqueline Simpson agreed.
"This season we worked extra hard and when we practiced and were at the end and were exhausted, we would say this is the point of time that we need to be at fitness and mental preparedness for George Jenkins.''
At that point of practice she said the team conducted drills that exhausted them further.
Taylor Decaire scored the first goal for the Wolves three minutes into the game when the ball awkwardly dribbled through the grasp of the Jenkins goalie.
The score stayed that way until the opening two minutes of the second half. Newsome was awarded a penalty kick and Shea Rhoney placed it in the top left corner to make it 2-0.
One minute later, Jenkins speedster Victoria Abnathy raced by defenders and scored the Eagles' only goal.
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