It took two different days, but the Dawson County Lady Tigers soccer team came away with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Oglethorpe County last week.

Oglethorpe County jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Tuesday before bad weather hit Tiger Stadium.

The Lady Patriots scored on a goal with 23:59 left in the first half by striker Laura Abney.

Abney lofted the ball from 20 yards out over Lady Tiger goalie Anela Melton.

That's when the skies opened up, forcing the game to be resumed on Thursday.

Coach Jed Lacey decided to change goalies for the second day, placing veteran Kenna Seitz at goalkeeper.

Both teams battled in the first half, as Oglethorpe clung to a 1-0 halftime lead.

Dawson County came out seemingly inspired in the second half.

Goals by Taylor Bennett, her fifth goal of the season, with an assist from Brittany Duffy tied the game with 33:56 left in the second half.

The Lady Tigers took the lead for good on a goal by Riley Cox with only 7:56 remaining in the game. Bennett was credited with the assist.

The goal was Cox's fifth of the season.

Lacey didn't feel his team was playing to its potential.

"I felt we were not playing to win, we were playing not to lose. We have everything to lose and the lower seed teams feel they are not supposed to win anyway," Lacey said.

Oglethorpe County came into Thursday's region playoff game with a 9-3 overall record.

"After we came back to the pitch [after halftime] we were calm and ready to go. We made the adjustments we needed to and went out there and dominated the rest of the game. We were a different team after we resumed play and Oglethorpe could not adjust to our speed of play and we overwhelmed them and their side of the field," Lacey said.

Once again the Dawson County defense rose to the occasion. The Lady Tigers allowed Oglethorpe County one shot per half on goal.

"I thought the defense that is made up of Morgan Huber, Anna Hawkins, Brooke Shively and Emily Stowers came out and stepped up and played a tremendous game as a unit and with their individual play," Lacey said.

Dawson County advanced in Region 8-AA tournament play with the win.

The Lady Tigers played Jackson County on Monday. With a win, the team advanced to the championship game April 25.

Results from Monday's game were not available as of press time.

The Lady Tigers are currently ranked No. 6 in Class AA with an impressive 13-2 overall record.

"This team has come so far and with so many freshman and sophomores starting and playing major minutes it is exciting to think about the future of the girls' program. We have great leadership on this team and have a bunch of girls hungry to win. They love playing this game and you can see it in how they play. Every night you do not know who is going to do something special. But for now this team is ready to make our run at state," Lacey said.