"Battled Tested" Lassiter Continues Title Defense, Defeats St. Pius 3-1
On Tuesday, the defending Georgia High School Association Class 6A boys soccer champions, the Lassiter Trojans, continued their title defense facing a tough St. Pius X Golden Lions team in the quarterfinals of the state championship tournament. The match featured plenty of physical play as the two teams battled, looking to gain advantage. Both teams would have their fair share of looks and shots, however the Trojans would strike first as a corner kick would lead to a Rollie Scott goal as the Golden Lions struggled to clear.
With a 1-0 first half lead, Lassiter would tack on another goal courtesy of Miles Martin, with Chris Peixoto on the assist, and looked to be in firm control of the match until the second half when St. Pius would find the back of the net on a Julian Moran goal, making it a 2-1 lead in favor of the Trojans. As the intensity and physicality of the match picked up, so would penalties, with a few leading to yellow cards, but more importantly, time began to work against the Golden Lions.
With the clock down to a minute of play left, St. Pius looked for one final surge, but struggled to break through the back line of the Trojans, who would eventually clear with the ball ahead to Aidan McConnie who would score the third goal of the night for Lassiter in route to their 3-1 win. “We knew it was going to be a battle. St. Pius is a quality team, always has been. Well coached, well organized, great players,” Lassiter head coach, David Penny said of the Golden Lions following the match.
Penny also credited his players for their “readiness” in facing what St. Pius brought to the match on Tuesday adding that the competition they face in region play prepared them as they were “battled tested and I think that showed up tonight,” Penny said. Moving onto the GHSA 6A semifinals, Lassiter will now prepare for another tough opponent in Johns Creek and when asked about the biggest take away to help them prepare, Penny’s answer was simple and to the point, “survive”, he responded.
