Deerfield-Windsor wins in overtime to advance to finals

EVANS, Ga. — Deerfield-Windsor coach Aly Joslin delivered handwritten notes to every player on his team before Friday’s state semifinal contest.

Joslin’s note to junior forward Parker Morgan:

“Parker, you have had a great year. Be fast. Be strong. Be selfish. You have come such a long way. Lead us to the championship.”

Morgan did her part against Westminster, scoring the game-winning goal late in overtime to help send Deerfield-Windsor to the Georgia Independent Schools Association state championship game after its 2-1 victory at Blanchard Woods Park.

The Lady Knights (14-1) will face two-time state defending champion Augusta Prep at 4 p.m. today in the title contest. The Lady Cavaliers defeated Frederica, 4-0, earlier in the day.

“It’s really exciting,” said Morgan, who scored both her team’s goals. “This is what we’ve been working for all season. This was one of our main goals before the season even started.”

“We knew coming into this year we had a chance,” Joslin said about advancing to the championship game. “We had the belief the whole way through. I have to give credit to the girls. They were fantastic today.”

Morgan opened the scoring midway through the first half, but Deerfield-Windsor’s lead didn’t last long. Westminster’s Daria Stan minutes later scored on a free kick. The teams went into intermission tied at 1.

“I think we controlled the ball more than them throughout most of the game, but we had our times when we slacked.” Morgan said. “Once they scored, it made us realize they were coming to play, too.”

The Lady Knights kept the Lady Wildcats on the defensive in the second half, but they couldn’t punch in a goal. In overtime, Morgan threatened with a shot toward goalie Abbey Robertson, who made a diving deflection. Morgan got the rebound, but Roberston made another diving stop – one of her 15 saves.

Deerfield-Windsor finally broke through late. Morgan was left alone on the back post when she received an entry pass from the side. She chipped in the shot with 2:40 left in overtime to give the Lady Knights the win.

“I think for the most part we put our game plan together and we hit our corners,” Joslin said. “We knew we were going to be able to hit them out wide and hit them on the switch balls.”