SOCCER ROUNDUP: East Laurens boys stun Swainsboro; Dublin, West Laurens impress in early matches

Soccer season got off to a running start last week as Dublin, East Laurens and West Laurens teams took the field for their first regular-season matches. 

Boys squads from each chalked up opening wins Tuesday night, while West followed up an early region sweep with another as it returned home on Thursday to remain undefeated. 

The East Laurens boys scored three goals in the second half, and each in a hurry on some quick-hitting sprints downfield that caught the opposing back line flat-footed, to win a 3-2 thriller with Swainsboro in their Tuesday debut – what would be the only victory out of the Falcons’ four home matches for the week. 

East’s boys trailed 1-0 at the half, but Jesus Orduna-Lopez converted to tie things up in the first minute of the second half as the field flipped with a Falcon 2-on-1. 

Defenses battled from there until Swainsboro’s De’Avion Rountree found goal for what the Tigers figured would be a decisive score with eight minutes to go. East had other plans, pulling another fast one off the ensuing kick to answer in a matter of seconds as Kamari LaGroon dribbled it all the way down and fit in an equalizer from the left side to make it 2-2. 

The Falcons would go up not a minute later as Lerri Lopez took a shot off a corner kick, and got one to bounce in off the keeper’s hands for the 3-2 winner, and their defense held with a little over six minutes to go. 

Swainsboro got five goals from Gracie Beneteau and three from Bre McClendon to run away with the girls’ match. The Lady Tigers gave up an own goal, off an inadvertent deflection in the box, to put East Laurens on the board first. But from there it was eight unanswered scores from the visitors before a second shot found the back for the Lady Falcons on a 20-yard left-footer from Maggie Foskey with roughly 25 minutes to play in the second half. 

Toombs County won big as guest for both of East’s home matches Thursday. Freshman Kanijah Toby’s hat trick helped lift the Lady Dogs to the win by a count of 9-1. Sayria Willis scored the Falcons’ only goal with 10 minutes to play before halftime. 

Osvaldo Tinoco scored twice for the Toombs boys in their 5-1 victory. 

East Laurens will go on the road to challenge Wheeler County in its next matches on Thursday. 

West Laurens started its season on the road with two big wins over Westside Augusta. 

The Lady Raiders rattled off one goal after another to compile 10 in their half of an opening shutout. Landry Hall assisted the opening goal by Marley Yearwood. Malone Poole scored the second off a touch line pass from Selah Lanton. Poole hit a free kick to make it 3-0. Lanton and Kristin Ivey had a pair of scores each to run the score to 7-0 at halftime. 

Poole completed a hat trick from the top of the box early in the second half. Ivey did the same by knocking in a cross from Jenna Edwards. Saussy chalked up another assist with the setup of a shot into the side netting for Hall to end the match by a score of 10-0. 

Jiya Patel and K.K. Wilson led the back line, and Madelyn Lamb the shutout in goal. 

The West Laurens boys allowed a single goal, via second-half free kick, for the only defensive blemish in a 9-1 win. 

Freshman Graham Rozar had the assist on all three goals by the West Laurens boys in Tuesday’s opening half, with Dalton Oxford, Payton Everly and Bryson Morgan converting to put the Raiders up 3-0. 

Oxford got them going in the second with back-to-back goals off the assists of Clark Nelson and Bryson Morgan to complete a hat trick. 

Jack Yearwood scored twice in a row from there – his hard-hit second strike leaving the Westside keeper trying to find the ball as it knuckled into the far side netting – for goals six and seven. 

Truett Bainbridge crossed to Alex Derochie for an upper-90 shot to bring the score to 8-1, and Jaxson Lamb set up the header of Joe Powell for the final goal. 

R.T. Gilder kept Westside off the board for 60 minutes in his keeping debut. 

The Raider girls shut out Howard 7-0, while the boys earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory as both teams returned to the SHU for the first of a two-match homestand Thursday. They continue it with a couple of potentially pivotal matches against Harlem Tuesday night. 

Dublin’s teams split up for their season debuts Tuesday night, its girls facing Treutlen in Soperton and boys traveling to Hawkinsville. 

The Lady Irish were shut out 2-0, though their defense – led by the double-digit steals of Jaymi Kate McLendon and Bianca Edmond, and the eight saves (one to deny a penalty kick) by keeper Lizzie Brantley had eight saves – shined in the first outing of the spring. 

Maya Brinson scored both Treutlen goals. 

Urick Andrews had four of the five strikes for the Irish boys in the reverse, a 5-0 win. Jashum Carswell added the fifth to seal things out, with Keyshawn Haynes and keeper Conner Rozier – in his first career shutout – anchoring the defensive effort. 

Dublin’s squads will reunite on the road to open region play Tuesday night at Jefferson County.