Westminster, St. Pius, Marist clinch state soccer titles
Westminster boys and girls completed a sweep of the Class AA championships, while St. Pius (AAA boys and girls) and Marist (AAAA girls) also came away with titles at the state soccer finals last weekend.Westminster (17-6) defeated Calhoun 1-0 in the AA boys’ championship game at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton last Saturday.
Harrison Butker scored a goal off of a corner kick by Trey Blasingame with about seven minutes remaining in the game to provide the winning goal for the Wildcats, who clinched their third consecutive AA state title.
“It was, obviously, an incredible thing to see,” Westminster boys’ coach Scott Snyder said. “This team was the youngest that we’ve had in quite a while. It was special. Harrison Butker put the team on his shoulders and he scored the winning goal for us, so it was kind of poetic.”
The Westminster girls’ (15-5) beat Greater Atlanta Christian 3-2 in the AA girls’ finals at West Georgia last Saturday.
Kathryn Murray, Liza Lingenfelter and Caroline Beadles each scored goals in the first half to bring the Wildcats their first girls’ state crown since 2005.
It was also their first win over Area 6AA rival GAC this season after two regular-season losses.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the girls,” Westminster girls’ coach Clark Meyer said. “We could not have scripted the game any better. The girls played their hearts out.”
Meanwhile, St. Pius made it a clean sweep of the AAA soccer championships.
The Golden Lions beat Blessed Trinity 1-0 in the AAA girls’ finals at Kennesaw State last Friday, winning their fourth state title in five years.
Amanda Vocelka scored with 6:34 remaining in the game to give the St. Pius girls (19-1-3) its championship.
The St. Pius boys’ (19-0-2) beat Woodward (13-7-1) 2-0 in the AAA boys’ finals at Kennesaw State last Friday, clinching its third state title in five years.
Tyler Alexander and J.D. Manzo scored one goal each to provide all the scoring for the Golden Lions.
Marist (22-0-1) defeated Columbus 5-0 in the AAAA girls’ finals at West Georgia last Friday.
Katie McGinnitie scored two goals, while Caroline Strom, Emily Gale and Meredith Selvey had one goal each to give the War Eagles their first state crown since 2009.
Both the Westminster boys and girls advanced to their respective AA finals with semifinal wins over archrival Lovett.
The Westminster-Lovett AA boys’ semifinal showdown last Wednesday came down to penalty kicks after the two teams were tied 2-all after regulation time and 3-all following two overtime periods.
The Wildcats came out on top at the end after outscoring the Lions 4-3 in the shootout. Johnny Ostrowski scored two goals and Butker added one goal to lead Westminster.
The Wildcat girls’ won their semifinal game in more convincing fashion with a 5-0 decision over Lovett last Tuesday. Murray and Beadles scored two goals each to lead the Westminster girls.
In AAA, St. Pius advanced to the boys’ finals with a 2-0 semifinal victory over Oconee County last Wednesday. The girls’ team beat Buford 7-3 in its final four contest last Tuesday. Marist made it to the AAAA championship game with a 7-0 semifinal win over Heritage of Catoosa last Tuesday.
Read more: Neighbor Newspapers - Westminster St Pius Marist clinch state soccer titles
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