Dawson County escaped with an exciting 2-1 win over Fannin County at home last week. The win for the Class AA No. 9-ranked Lady Tigers was big and gave the team an upper hand in region play.
The team's ranking is the first in school history for the girls' soccer program.
The Lady Tigers are currently 5-1 overall and 1-0 in Region 8-AA play.
Things were looking bleak for the Lady Tigers after Fannin, defending region champions, jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 16:23 left in the first half.
The Lady Rebels took the 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Lady Tigers fought back in the second half on a goal by sophomore Morgan Callas with 23:10 left before the final buzzer. It was Callas' second goal of the season. McKay Shively recorded the assist.
With only 3:42 left in regulation, freshman Shively scored the winning goal with an assist by Morgan Huber. Shively leads the team with 7 goals this season.
"The game was huge," said head coach Jed Lacey.
"What a game. We knew they would be good and fast," he added.
The Dawson defense was strong throughout the game. The Lady Tigers allowed Fannin County three shots on goal the entire game.
"Our defense was crazy," Lacey said. "Morgan Huber might be one of the best defenders in the state. They tried to come down the middle a few times with their best player to get away from Morgan, but Carissa Perez and Emily Stowers closed that channel off too.
"With Anna Hawkins manning the backside of the defense we just smothered their attack and that was a tremendous performance by the defense to stop a team as good as Fannin."
Lacey said he was proud of his team's execution.
"We had a plan and the girls stuck to it and it worked. Credit needs to go out to Jade Perry, Brooke Duffy and Riley Cox for working so hard in controlling the middle of the field. They came up big and did exactly what we asked them to do and help us put a stamp on this season," Lacey said.
The team will now travel to Jekyll Island to play in the Tournament of Champions.
The Lady Tigers will play at 5 p.m. Thursday against Richmond Academy, 5:30 p.m. Friday against Cedar Shoals and 9:30 a.m. Saturday against Strong Rock Christian Academy.