Thursday night was not the Lady Raiders night as the defending girls soccer state champion Roswell High School Lady Hornets came into Raider Stadium and left with a 3-1 victory over Habersham Central High School in the Sweet Sixteen round of the state playoffs.
The Lady Raiders (14-3-1) were under pressure from the outset and Roswell (14-3-1) made good on their attack, eventually slotting three goals into the back of the net.
The Lady Hornets opened scoring 12 minutes into the game as senior goalkeeper Riley Wilson came off her line to make a play on an oncoming ball played through the middle of the field. Realizing she wouldn’t make it on time, Wilson began retreating to get into position to make a save, but Roswell junior Rachel Phifer was able to slide the ball past her.
HCHS would make a play to level the game nine minutes later.
Junior Abigail Hotard was in a fight for the ball with a Lady Hornets player and drew the foul to win a free kick for HCHS about 40 yards from goal. Fellow junior Paisley Cathey delivered the ball into the box, dropping it onto junior Annabelle Clark’s head.
Clark, remarkably unmarked by the Lady Hornets’ defense, was able to guide the shot on target and past the keeper to put the game back on even footing.
Eight minutes later, Roswell would go up for good as a cross from the right side of the field found its way to a player barreling down the field for an incredible flying header.
The 2-1 lead would find its way to halftime. Then, it would take eight and a half minutes into the second period for the Lady Hornets to find the net for the third and final time.
Phifer carried the ball into the attacking third through the middle-left side of the field, skirting oncoming defenders before knocking the ball home for a solo effort.
The Lady Raiders had a good chance on goal late, but the shot found the woodwork to keep the ball out of the net.
“Like I told the girls (after the game): in the second half, (Phifer) got free and scored and then we had a shot beat the keeper and hit the post. If those two things don’t happen, it’s a 2-2 game against the defending state champs. You can’t ask for more than that,” HCHS Head Coach Jeff LaBarbera said. “We’ve had some really bad exits out of the state playoffs and this one was 3-1 against the state champs. This was not a horrendous exit out of the playoffs for sure. I thought we played really well.”
Roswell was markedly talented across the board. It was noticeable in the way they kept possession, in the way the players talked to each other on the field, and in the way they handled pressure applied by the Lady Raiders.
“They’re state champs for a reason,” LaBarbera said. “They’re really good and they’re good in every position. We came here with a workman’s mentality and there’s no way that team came here tonight thinking they were going to work that hard against us. I think they thought they were going to breeze through it and they certainly didn’t.”
Despite giving up three goals to the opposition, the back line for HCHS really made a mark in the game and thwarted attack after attack after attack from the Lady Hornets. The efforts did not go unnoticed.
“It’s the best defense we’ve ever had. Those four in the back and our keeper only let in 13 goals and then three tonight, so 16 goals all year. That’s a program record,” LaBarbara said. “They were just locking down. They’re just special. The defense has been key to everything for us.”
A noticeable change for the Lady Raiders on the night was Cathey, despite getting the assist on the goal, being missing from the overall attack for most of the night. That was all due to changes HCHS had to make in order to deal with their opponent.
“We needed (Cathey) on defense and we needed her on offense. We had to sacrifice her somewhere and we just thought it was smart to play her against their best player and it worked,” LaBarbera said. “That girl got free a few times, but, for the most part, we shut her down.”
Following the game, LaBarbara made sure to go around to each player, shake their hand and give a few words their way.
“Just telling them I love them. Just being there for them,” he said of his messages. “Being their soccer dad is kind of important. Just letting them know that each and every one of them played a role, even if they didn’t play tonight. Everybody played a role in practice to help us get prepared. I just wanted to let everybody know that I love them.”
After such a special season that saw the first region championship in program history, the second playoff win in program history, Cathey breaking and setting single season and career scoring records for boys and girls soccer at HCHS, and a trip to Italy, the nature of the beast turns to next season.
LaBarbera, in his closing comments to his team following the game, made sure to tell the seniors that they’re leaving the program in a great spot.
“We’re losing four key players. I’m hoping everybody comes back that’s supposed to come back. That would be awesome,” LaBarbera said, looking forward to 2025. “Then we’d just be trying to fill those shoes of those four people, but that’s not going to be easy. We’re definitely going to try to reload and try to start where we left off this year and go for it next year.”
