After outscoring their first two opponents by a combined score of 18-0, the Dawson County Lady Tigers faced a step up in competition last week resulting in a 5-0 loss to Flowery Branch.

“It exposes some things we got to work on,” Head Coach Chess Hamby said. “Playing a higher-level team like that makes you play a little bit faster than what we’ve seen before. Hopefully we can up our level of play and play at that speed.”

It was a bit of a wake-up call for the Lady Tigers (2-1) who just couldn’t seem to generate a lot of pressure on Flowery Branch (6-0) on Feb. 20. The Falcons controlled the pace of play, gaining a large advantage in time of possession, forcing Dawson County to chase them, wearing the Lady Tigers out over the course of the game.

Flowery Branch scored two goals in the first half, including one on a penalty kick in the 21st minute.

Dawson County was able to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard for the next 37 minutes, but after a goal in the 57th minute to make the game 3-0, the Falcons were able to score two more goals in the final 10 minutes of play, including an own goal in the 70th minute.

Despite the sound defeat, Hamby made it known to the girls during the post-game speech that “all this changes is our record, our goals are still in front of us.” That goal, according to Hamby, is winning region and making the state tournament.

With region play starting this week, Hamby is planning to use this lose to help improve his team with a strong week of practice.

“We got to work on our touch,” Hamby said about controlling the ball. “Our touch wasn’t very good tonight. We just got to work on our first touch and building it up from the back, which we had done a good job of up until tonight, and a lot of that has to do with (Flowery Branch’s) speed.

“We’re definitely going to work on our touch and keep working together. Just to keep them together really, truly at this point.”

The Lady Tigers faced Union County at home on Feb. 27, but results were not available as of press time. The team will host West Hall at 5:30 p.m. on March 2.

Flowery Branch scored two goals in the first half, including one on a penalty kick in the 21st minute.

Dawson County was able to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard for the next 37 minutes, but after a goal in the 57th minute to make the game 3-0, the Falcons were able to score two more goals in the final 10 minutes of play, including an own goal in the 70th minute.

Despite the sound defeat, Hamby made it known to the girls during the post-game speech that “all this changes is our record, our goals are still in front of us.” That goal, according to Hamby, is winning region and making the state tournament.

With region play starting this week, Hamby is planning to use this loss to help improve his team with a strong week of practice.

“We got to work on our touch,” Hamby said about controlling the ball. “Our touch wasn’t very good tonight. We just got to work on our first touch and building it up from the back, which we had done a good job of up until tonight, and a lot of that has to do with (Flowery Branch’s) speed.

“We’re definitely going to work on our touch and keep working together. Just to keep them together really, truly at this point.”

The Lady Tigers faced Union County at home on Feb. 27, but results were not available as of press time. The team will host West Hall at 5:30 p.m. on March 2.