Trailing by a pair of goals at the half in the Class 5A-District 9 girls soccer semifinals, Gaither High coach Trevor Scott decided it was time for some levity.
"I told them some jokes,'' Scott said after Gaither escaped with a 3-2 win over Sickles to advance to the district final on Friday against Freedom. "Everybody calmed down and we got back to work.''
Sickles started the scoring when Alexis Rodriguez scored on a breakaway chip shot to put the Gryphons on the board. Catie Nowak then scored on a bomb that made it 2-0, a lead the Gryphons held into the half.
Taylor Meek scored on a rebound to cut the deficit in half, and Gaither tied it minutes later when Samantha Knowles scored from close range at the 15-minute mark.
Kaycee McGuire gave the Cowboys a lead on a free kick at the 8:27 mark, and freshman keeper Amanda High held off every Sickles attack down the stretch
Freedom won the first game of the night, 1-0 against Hillsborough, when Jenna Stiling scored on a breakaway goal midway through the first half. Emily Ball recorded the shutout in net.
The Patriots were missing three starters on defense.
"We came out and we put it together,'' Jenna Ball said. "We were missing some key players but everyone else stepped up.''
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