Riverwood Headed To Playoffs With "Momentum" After 3-0 Win Over Walton
On Saturday, the Riverwood Raiders and Walton Raiders took to the pitch for their final regular match as they both get set for the Georgia High School Association soccer state championship tournament. While Walton would look to close out with their second straight win, Riverwood would look to win their sixth consecutive game to close out the regular season and giving them plenty of momentum into their round one match up with Morrow.
Aggressive from the initial kickoff, Riverwood would come out strong and score early in the first half to take a 1-0 lead. As the half continued, while not able to connect on several shots, Riverwood would still be the dominate team as they controlled possession the remainder of the half, earning them several shots on goal. However, in the second half Riverwood, maintaining their aggressive style would several early shots on goal and eventually get one into the back of the net thanks to Yael Hernandez connecting for his first of two goals, giving Riverwood a 2-0 lead.
As the half continued, Riverwood not letting up would strike again as Dylan Petatan would send the ball through to Hernandez as he would strike for his second goal of the night to give Riverwood a 3-0 lead, which would be the final score. “It was the pressing. At the end of the first half, we had the right movement but not enough vision to where the ball is going to be and I think we improved that in the second half,” Riverwood senior and Army West Point commit Kelly Cooper said of the Raiders’ adjustments in the second half to lead them to the win.
Now both teams will shift their focus on the playoffs and for Riverwood, that will mean an opening round match against the Morrow Mustangs and Cooper believes that with Riverwood having been off for spring break, Saturday’s win ahead of the playoffs is “big” because of the fact that the Raiders have not held practice. “The momentum going into the playoffs is really big,” Cooper added.
