Sophomore forward Brooke Cagle had a fantastic game in the Lady Tigers 4-0 victory over Morgan County April 30.
Cagle scored three goals in the first round state playoff victory against the Lady Bulldogs.
"Brooke Cagle came into her own tonight. Brooke and I have had a lot of talks recently in what she needed to do to start having the success we need from her to help us be the team I thought we could be.
"She looked great out there. She is starting to have vision of the field and seeing where she needs to be to set up the defenders. Brooke started the season on defense so she needed a little time up top to get it right," said Head Coach Jed Lacey.
Cagle scored her first goal with 23:25 remaining on an assist from teammate Mackenzie Callas.
Five minutes later junior Lady Tiger Tina Libao blasted the ball past the Morgan County goalie to give Dawson County a 2-0 advantage, which the team took into halftime.
Both defenses dominated the majority of the second half, but with just 11:24 remaining, Cagle found the back of the net off of an assist by Emily Queen to give Dawson County a 3-0 lead.
Cagle finished her hat trick with 8:51 to go after taking a pass from Libao that gave the Lady Tigers a ticket into the second round of the state playoffs.
Freshman goalie Ashley Stanfill recorded her fourth shutout of the year.
"I'm glad this game is over," Lacey said. "The first game of the playoffs is the most stressful. We haven't played a game in a week and a half and getting back in rhythm took a few minutes. We possessed the ball the entire first half, but only scored two goals and looked sloppy.
"In the second half we found our stride and looked a lot better with our connections and we started to make really good runs on goal," Lacey said.
The coach said he was happy with his team's defense.
"Our defense did a great job tonight stopping all of Morgan County's advances. I like how our center backs, Ava Walker and Devon Coates, roamed the back [field]. Those girls have done such good job this year along with Sara Bywaletz and Mckay Shively on the outside," he said.
With the win, the fourth-ranked Lady Tigers (13-3-0) advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
Lacey's team traveled to Fort Valley to face a strong Peach County squad yesterday.
Peach County is the region 2-AAA champion and brings a 12-3-4 record into the game.
Coach David Langley's teams have won 12 of their last 13 games, which includes a 1-0 win over Islands High School in the first round.
"Peach County is a pretty good team. Every round gets harder so we must be at our best. Our team will be ready to play," Lacey said.
Scores were unavailable at press time.
If Dawson County defeats Peach County the team will play the winner of No. 2-ranked Westminster (13-2-1) and No. 9-ranked Calhoun (16-2) on Friday.