Jordan See and the Gaither High boys soccer team have put in the work, and now they are seeing that sweat and perseverance pay off in a big way.
The senior captain scored twice while fronting Gaither's disciplined offensive blitz during Friday night's Class 5A-Region 3 final at East Lake in a 3-1 Cowboys victory.
"Talent-wise we're always going to be about equal, especially with the teams we're playing now," See said. "But if we work harder than they do, we're going to get the result."
From the opening whistle, Gaither's frontline attackers - including See, Zachary Wheeler and Paul Barrett - were creating headaches for Eagles defenders.
See started the night's scoring in the 10th minute. After cleanly receiving a cross from Paul Hinebaugh inside East Lake's goal box, See controlled with his chest, pivoted and buried the shot from inside 10.
"Jordan See, you can't say enough about him," said Gaither coach Eric Sims. "He's playing with a pulled hamstring he's been battling for about a month."
East Lake (16-5-1) responded quickly with a deflection goal from Ryan Wankat about 2 minutes later.
Barrett put the Cowboys (18-4-3) ahead for good in the 27th minute immediately following See's drawn foul and subsequent free kick. Jacob Snidle took the kick from about 25 yards out and found the head of Barrett making a run through the middle of the box.
Gaither now will return to the final four for the first time since 2004.
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