Deerfield-Windsor boys soccer advances to finals

EVANS, Ga. — This is the kind of game Brandon Johnson will dream about for many years.

Johnson scored two goals and the Deerfield-Windsor Knights used a first-half goal from Lanier Freeman, along with a solid defensive effort, to win a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Frederica Academy in the Georgia Independent Schools Association state semifinals at the Blanchard Woods Park Soccer Complex Friday night.

The win earns DWS a shot at the state championship against Westminster-Augusta, who defeated Augusta Prep 2-0 in the other semifinal. The game begins at 6:30 p.m.

”I thought they (Frederica) were the better team,” DWS coach Ally Joslin said. ”We had three good counter-attack goals. Pace-wise, we might have had an edge over them. It was a little bit messy. It wasn’t the way we wanted to play, but we’ll take it.”

From the start of the match, Deerfield-Windsor asserted itself as the aggressors, controlling the majority of possessions throughout the match. DWS got their first goal a little more than 12 minutes into the first half when Alex Grandinetti sent a long-ball to a running Johnson, who controlled it and slotted past Frederica goalkeeper John Mitchell into the far left corner of the net.

Deerfield Windsor continued to apply pressure on Frederica’s back line. That effort paid off as Freeman scored from 25 yards out with 7:42 left in the first half to give the Knights a 2-0 halftime lead.

Frederica created some opportunities, but the DWS back line was solid and thwarted almost every opportunity. DWS goakeepr Grant Wollam came up with big saves as well to preserve the win.

However, Frederica responded early in the second half when Christopher Holt sent a ball into the box where it bounced around and was put into the net by Jake Myers to cut Deerfield-Windsor’s lead to 2-1.

The Knights responded less than two minutes later when Johnson drove the ball down the left flank and shot it past Mitchell for his second goal of the game.

Both teams fought valiantly during the remainder of the match. While the Knights are happy with the win, they know one more obstacle lies in their way.