Deerfield-Windsor girls fall in state finals

EVANS — Bailee Cloutier spent 30 minutes Saturday morning working on penalty kicks at the Augusta Arsenal.

The extra work paid off.

The Augusta Prep senior defender scored on a penalty kick early in her team’s Georgia Independent Schools Association state championship contest against Deerfield-Windsor and the Lady Cavaliers rolled to a 4-1 victory at Blanchard Woods Park.

It was the second straight season Augusta Prep ended Deerfield-Windsor’s season. The Lady Knights lost in the quarterfinals last year.

“When there was one in the game, I said here I go,” Cloutier said about the penalty kick. “This is what I had been working on.”

Augusta Prep (15-1-2) finished the season on a nine-game winning streak. The Lady Cavaliers, who got two goals from Jessica Powell in the final, took home their third consecutive state title, allowing just one goal in their past nine games.

“I’m kind of speechless,” said senior midfielder Charlotte Rindt, who scored a goal in the first half. “I just wanted us to win for the senior class and for Julia (Hatcher) and for the program. It’s just overwhelming.

Against Deerfield-Windsor (14-2), Cloutier scored four minutes into the match. Then, Powell and Rindt later added goals as Augusta Prep cruised into intermission with a 3-0 lead.

Powell added another goal in the second half toe extend the lead. Parker Morgan scored late in the contest to put the Lady Knights on the board.

“That really took the pressure off,” Lady Cavaliers coach Tom Norton said about Cloutier’s goal. “Going into halftime at 3-0 was really nice.”

Midway through the season, Augusta Prep leading scorer Julia Hatcher tore her anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and parts of her meniscus. In crutches, she helped the younger players and supported the team down the stretch.

“I wasn’t playing,” Hatcher said, “but it’s still amazing to be a part of this experience.”

Cloutier added: “We’ve had such a great group of girls every year, but each year it seems like there’s been a challenge to overcome. This year, it was the injuries. And just because (a championship) is expected of us it doesn’t mean we’re always going to fulfill it. I’m so proud of everybody coming out and literally giving it all we’ve got with only two, three subs coming in.”

With Hatcher’s injury, coach Tom Norton had to move around some players on the field. Senior Sarah Malik, who missed most of last year with a knee injury, switched from defender to striker this season.

“I’m really proud of this team,” Malik said. “This one is probably my favorite, because it’s the one we had to work for the hardest.”