Pace Academy overcomes early adversity with win over Mount Vernon
As the 2024-2025 Georgia High School Association lacrosse season has gotten underway, the Pace Academy Knights found themselves facing some early adversity as they lost their last two games after opening the season with a 15-5 win over McIntosh. On Thursday, the Knights were back in action, hosting the Mount Vernon Mustangs and gained momentum early on the contest as they closed out the first period with a 4-1 lead.
As the second period got underway, Pace Academy's offense continued to look good as they would add three more goals in quarter and would outscore the Mustangs 3-1 in the period to take a 7-2 lead into the locker room at halftime. However, in the third quarter, Mount Vernon would connect on back to back goals to make it a 7-4 lead for the Knights, but Pace Academy would respond with two goals of their own in route to the 9-4 win.
"That's the name of the game, handle adversity," Pace Academy head coach, Chase Winter said after the Knights win over Mount Vernon as he praised his player for their efforts to end their two game losing streak. "I'm proud of the guys bouncing back," Winter said, noting how his team did not want concerns for the cold temperatures to have an impact on the game with a potential cancellation.
"They were excited to play and I was just proud of a lot of the seniors who stepped up," Winter added, however while the Knights had their best offensive production since their season opener, as Thursday's nine points, led by Tate O'Leary's four goal night, were more than they scored combined in their last two games, Winter says they'll need more from the offense.
"We have a great defense I feel comfortable with but you know how they say defenses win championships, but to be honest, offense has to outscore the other team in order to win so that's the name of the game, so our guys just have to put it through the back of the net," Winter said. Pace will be back in action on Monday when they travel to face Woodward Academy.
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