As the cliche goes, “records are made to be broken” and despite incredibly windy conditions Friday night for senior night, a large crowd was on hand to see Habersham Central High School junior Paisley Cathey break the school record for career goals.
Cathey, who broke the single-season scoring record for the girls’ program on March 26, came into Friday’s contest against East Hall High School just two goals from tying the career mark at 72.
It took her all of five minutes, 32 seconds.
Her first goal came three minutes, 56 seconds into the game with a tap through the keeper’s legs. Her second came at that five-minute, 32-second mark as Addi Banks delivered a ball into the box from the right side. Cathey met the ball with a one-touch swing of the right foot and found the back of the net.
With that goal, the junior found her name next to Preston Franklin, Jamie Haynes and Nolan Hemmer for goals scored in a career with 72.
But, if anybody blinked, they would have missed her break that record a minute and 13 seconds later as she drove through the center of the field after stealing the ball from an East Hall player. She pushed the ball to her right side and, again, found the back of the net with her right foot.
Cathey needed a total of six minutes, 45 seconds to stand alone atop the record books. The record is not only a mark for the Lady Raiders program, it’s an overall school record.
“It’s a great feeling. I couldn’t do it without my teammates and I’m excited to keep adding onto it,” Cathey said. “At the beginning of the game, I just told myself not to try too hard because, if I tried too hard, it wasn’t going to happen.”
With the playoffs starting next Thursday for the Lady Raiders, Cathey said she’s happy to not have to go into the playoffs with the record hanging over her head.
“I wanted to get it done before the playoffs because, this is bad, but I haven’t done very good in my past playoff games, so I wanted to get it done,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll keep adding to it during the playoffs.”
Lady Raiders Head Coach Jeff LaBarbera put it quite simply when asked about Cathey and setting the new bar, which she has another season to push out of reach: “She’s just such a special player.”
HCHS (13-2-1, 11-1 Region 8-AAAAAA) wasn’t done scoring after Cathey’s less-than-seven-minute hat trick. In fact, the Lady Raiders went on to mercy rule the Lady Vikings (1-13, 1-8 Region 8-AAAA), 10-0, for an emphatic senior night victory.
The Lady Raiders closed out the first half with another three goals for a 6-0 lead at the break.
A misplayed ball by the East Hall goalkeeper left an open-net, tap-in goal for sophomore Emylie Nichols. Banks got in on the scoring, notching the team’s fifth of the day and giving her a goal to go along with her assist to Cathey.
The sixth goal was scored by freshman Emmie Kyle, who smashed the ball across the face of goal, off the right post and back into the net with 4:31 left on the clock before half.
Fellow freshman Madie Wilbanks ripped a ferocious shot, sending a rocket off her right foot on a ball deflected her way at the top of the 18-yard box off a corner kick less than nine minutes into the second half.
Banks secured a brace, notching a second goal with a volley on a cross, putting the Lady Raiders up 8-0.
HCHS moved starting keeper Riley Wilson into a striker position for the second half and the team spent the final 20 minutes of the game trying to get her a goal.
On one such attempt, with 17:09 left in the contest, Wilson put a shot on frame, but it was knocked away by the Lady Vikings goalkeeper. Backup HCHS goalkeeper Kelsie Campbell – who was replaced by Cathey in goal midway through the second half – followed up on the shot and slotted home the ninth goal.
Then, finally, with 2:39 left in the game, Wilson was able to connect on a ball played to her through the middle. She pushed the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper and scored the final goal of the contest, solidifying the lopsided victory and ending the game.
“Games like that are always fun, especially on senior night to get one for the seniors,” Cathey said.
“That was super fun,” LaBarbera said. “Having everybody let their hair down and just have fun, seeing everybody’s smiles on their faces and just honoring the seniors – just a special night.”
With a big smile on his face, LaBarbera gave his point of view of the team trying to get Wilson a goal on senior night.
“It was funny, our backup goalie scored before she did. It was wild,” LaBarbera said. “But it was just one of those things where she’s trying too hard, making it tougher than it had to be. She finally put it away and it was just jubilation from everybody.”
LaBarbera said the Lady Raiders will turn their attention to the playoffs on Monday as they prepare to host Paulding County at 6 p.m. Thursday.
For now, he and his squad were just relishing in the fun of the night and giving the seniors their praise for helping get the program where it is, which includes the first region championship in the program’s history.
The next goal will become winning that game against the fourth seed from Region 5, a feat the Lady Raiders have only achieved once. In 2022, HCHS beat Kennesaw Mountain High School, 1-0, to earn the first playoff victory in program history.
“We’ve only been to the playoffs a handful of times as a program in 29 years. To get the opportunity to do that again is phenomenal,” LaBarbera said. “We’ve only won a playoff game once, so we’re definitely looking to do that again this year and just keep making this year extra special.
“For our program, our history, (the 10-0 win over East Hall) is just a great way to cap off our year,” he continued. “If we can get that win next week, that would be amazing.”
Boys: East Hall 2, Habersham Central 0
The Raiders (13-3, 11-1 Region 8-6A) were the victims of a shutout loss Friday as the Vikings (11-5, 5-5 Region 8-4A) spoiled the senior night party.
HCHS went down early in the contest, allowing a goal in transition two minutes and 31 seconds into the contest.
The Raiders appeared to be a little more disjointed than usual, which can be the case on senior night, if the coach switches up the usual lineup.
“We changed personnel because it’s senior night tonight. You’ve got to do that and, when you do, we certainly were disjointed for a little while,” HCHS Head Coach Ric Wallace said.
East Hall was able to settle into the game and play a frustrating style of soccer, which included swarming the ball to force untimely errors. When the Raiders were able to get their usual lineup together on the field, a yellow card got one of them sent off. With the playoffs coming, Wallace opted not to take the risk of the player picking up a second yellow and missing the playoff game Friday against Douglas County.
Wallace said after the first goal was scored, his team didn’t necessarily respond “in the right way.”
“We’ve got to go make sure we’ve got everybody responding when things didn’t go our way after we gave up the first (goal),” he said. “We battled back and settled in and left a few goals out there. Early on, I think three balls went across the face of goal and we see we were missing that little extra step, the effort to get there.”
Wallace said he doesn’t feel like his team was pressing too much to get a goal back to tie the game, but maybe more so they were playing to the crowd.
“You had a great crowd out here tonight from both sides. Something would happen and you’d get the ‘ooh’ and they’d think they had to get the ‘ooh’ back,” Wallace said. “There were a couple of times in the second half where we needed to slip a ball one or two touches earlier. We took that extra (touch) and now we’re offsides or they’re able to recover a little bit.”
The second goal for East Hall was a misplayed ball back toward goalkeeper Everett Rudeseal. The junior came off his line and advanced on the ball, but was unable to get there before an oncoming Viking chipped the ball over Rudeseal’s head and one-hopped the ball into the back of the net.
Now that the attention turns to the playoffs, Wallace said his team will prepare for its game against Douglas County in the same way they did for this past Tuesday’s game against North Forsyth. In that instance, they had the full week of spring break to prepare for the contest.
Now, after a week mixed with winning an emotional game for a region title and getting one day rained out of practice, they have another full week to shake off Friday’s game and get into the do-or-die mindset.
“Next week, you get back in the routine of things,” Wallace said. “You know you’re playing for it all. I mean, if you can’t get it done, the season is over.”
A time for the playoff game against Douglas County has not been set as of publication.
Seniors
The programs held a ceremony between the two games to highlight the seniors on each squad. Here’s what the respective coaches had to say about their seniors:
LaBarbara on,
Riley Wilson – “She’d never played soccer before until her freshman year and we talked her into it. I’ve never seen a person develop that quickly in that position. (Goalkeeper is) one of the hardest positions to pick up. That was very impressive to me.”
Piper Turner – “She came in freshman year and tore it up. From the get-go, she was just a solid, great player for us on defense. Very smart, very witty in the back. She’s just somebody that, defensively, we’ve been able to rely on for four years.”
Maggie Vena – “She transferred in her sophomore year, so we only had her for three years. She made a huge sacrifice to come here. She only got to play two years of varsity because of the Georgia high school rule. She came in and gave us an infectious, positive attitude. The way she meshed with the girls and just kept everybody together, she’s just a great leader on the team.”
Addi Banks – “Just one of the sweetest, nicest human beings you could ever meet. Great competitor, great soccer player. She does all the little things and she’s definitely the hardest working player we have on the field. She runs her tail off the whole game, from start to finish. Great captain, senior leader. Just a phenomenal person.”
Wallace on,
Brody Tyree – “A three-year starter in the back. He’s been a big leader for us. He loves the Raiders and loves playing out here. He wears his heart on his shoulder and he plays that way. Big time player for us.”
MJ Lowery – “He’s grown so much for us as a player since he was a sophomore. He’s not the most athletic guy, but he’s so coachable. He’s so positive and he never gives up on things. You never see him get too high or too low. He always makes the play. His heart and his chest makes up for the physical piece for him.”
Johnathan Trejo – “A kid that has grown so much. As a sophomore, he was playing JV and we didn’t really know where he was going to fit in. Last year, he came in as a starter at left back. This year, we’ve been able to bump him higher up the field and get his defensive work higher up the field and also use his pace to get him behind people. Just another great kid that has been so coachable and picked things up and it’s contributed to his successes and our successes.”
Xavier Lopez – “He’s been starting for three years now. What you see from Xavier is the maturity to keep his head. He wants things so much and he wants to do well that sometimes he can get too high or too low. He’s matured and started to find that even keel where he can keep his focus and not let things he can’t control disrupt the things he’s after. He’s energetic as can be. He’s got pace and the attacking part we need to score goals.”
Juan Lara – “Holy cow, he’s had a great season. Again, somebody that’s not the strongest, not the fastest, but he’s a little magician with the ball at his feet. What’s really impressed me this year is that he’s stepped up and embraced his role as a senior and what his team needs from him. He’s found a voice, he’s not afraid to shy away from the big moments, so it’s been a fantastic season.”
Tucker Bohannon – “Just endless energy. Battler, scrapper. He wants it. He loves these guys, he loves the team and, again, a guy that tries to do everything you ask him to do. Just his energy and his desire make up for things when his touch lets him down. He’s just a valuable part to what we do.”
Luis Aguilar – “He’s a new guy to the whole program. He’s never played organized soccer until this year. Growing up in Mexico, he played for his town and city. You can see he has a lot of really nice things about him. It’s just been a lot for him this first go around. Just one of those guys that, if he was a junior, you could see him playing a big, big part next year as he settled in and learned it. A great kid and helped build our squad depth.”
Owen Wallace – “Owen’s just a great player and so important to what we want to do. When he’s not out there, you can see we’re missing some defensive edge, a little creativity and an attacking threat. We’ll need him to continue to lead us to be able to do things next week (in the playoffs).”
