Locust Grove ends Worth County’s season

SYLVESTER — It wasn’t the way the Worth County High School girls soccer team hoped to start.

And it certainly wasn’t the way Lady Rams coach Colby Simpson envisioned.

Locust Grove netted a goal just a few minutes into the game, then added another with 23:12 left as the Lady Wildcats topped Worth County 2-0 Wednesday night in the first round of the Class AAAA state soccer tournament at Milt Miller Field.

Locust Grove slipped into the Worth County defense early, netted the goal and forced the Lady Rams to play catch-up for the rest of the game. They scored so quickly that most fans barely had time to settle into their seats.

Worth had their chances but couldn’t dent Locust Grove’s defense.

“You definitely can’t fall behind early, especially not against a very good team like Locust Grove,” Simpson said. “We played a quality team and there was certainly no room for error. We had that slip-up and you can’t have a slip-up against a good team like Locust Grove.”

Worth County (13-2-2) stayed within striking distance but midway through the second quarter, the Lady Wildcats slipped through the defense and netted their second goal.

“We made adjustments at halftime and hoped for the best,” Simpson said. “We pressed in the second half. We had a slip-up in the back and unfortunately, there are no timeouts in soccer.”

It was a tough way to end for Worth County, who finished as the Region 1-AAAA runner-up. Simpson said he thought his team played very competitive and talked about the future being promising.

“We will have a strong corps of seniors, juniors and sophomores, and we will look to continue building the program by having success,” Simpson said. “We have a bright future.”

Locust Grove managed 15 shots on goal. Goalkeeper Brinsley Graddy finished with 12 saves.