North Atlanta Gains Momentum With 2-0 Win Over Whitewater
On Tuesday, the North Atlanta Warriors girls soccer team played host to the Whitewater Wildcats in a non-region match up, yet both teams looking for a little momentum heading into a stretch of region games. For the Warriors, one the two unbeaten teams in their region, a win on Tuesday would give them two straight wins and the momentum they need heading into their match on Friday against the Lakeside Vikings, the other unbeaten team in their region.
The Warriors came out and look to set the tone early on both ends of the pitch taking eight shots on goal in the first half while defensively limiting the Wildcats to just one shot on goal in the first half. North Atlanta head coach, Greg Baeza pointed out that although the Warriors were getting the shots on goal they wanted, some “miscommunication” at times may have led to the reasoning of North Atlanta being able to connect for scores in the first half.
“Our forwards were working hard in the first half but not quite find feet, not quite connecting and building,” Baeza said of his team’s first half performance. Baeza later credited the Wildcats for their second half adjustments which led to them coming out more aggressive in the period, however Baeza was happy with how the Warriors “responded” to Whitewater’s second half play. “We were able to work out some issues and connect with our forwards a little bit better creating some nice synergy between center forwards and wing forwards,” Baeza added.
North Atlanta’s response to the Wildcats play would lead to two second half goals and a 2-0 win, improving them to 7-5-1 overall. With the win, momentum heading into their region match up with Lakeside could not come at a better time. The Warriors are 3-0 in region play while Lakeside sits at 5-0 in the region standings, so Friday’s winner will take sole possession of first in the region standings. Last season, the Warriors finished second behind Lakeside in the region standing as their only region loss came at the hands of the Vikings.
“We didn’t prioritize Lakeside as the game of the season,” Baeza said of their meeting from last season and so for this season, Baeza’s goal for the Warriors is not “put too much importance on any one non-region game,” yet not be afraid to take on a loss if it will help his team build towards where they want to be when they face the Vikings and look towards post-season play. “Our record is not that impressive, but the style that we’re developing and the chemistry that we’re building, I think we’re in a position to do some damage,” Baeza said.
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