Lady Panthers defeat Dawson
Back-to-back games end on penalty kicks
By JARED PUTNAM Union Sentinel Editor

Sentinel photo/Jared Putnam Marianne Smith tries to stop a penalty kick.

The Lady Panthers defeated Dawson County Monday, besting the Lady Tigers on penalty kicks just two days after losing to North Oconee in a game that came down to penalty kicks as well.

"I think win or lose, penalty kicks are the worst way to decide a ballgame," Lady Panthers Head Coach Tim Hunter said. "If you have girls that have played that hard for as long as they have, it just [feels bad] to lose that way."

But as hard as it is on the players, Coach Hunter said there is no doubt that penalty kicks are even worse for coaches. "Even when you win it just takes so much out of you. I have won and lost the region title on penalty kicks, and either way that is hard. I cannot think of a worse way to have to end a game. It is terribly stressful. I think every time we go to PK's I might lose a year of my life," the coach joked.

Having lost three region games, the Lady Panthers will need to defeat some tough opponents and hope for some outside help in order to reach the postseason. "We're going to have to win some really big games and we're going to have to get some help from [other teams] knocking other people off," the coach said. "The biggest thing is just to keep going and keep playing hard."

Sentinel photo/Jared Putnam Mallory O'Steen and the Titans goal keeper go for the ball.

Union 1 - Dawson 0

The Lady Panthers had several scoring opportunities against Dawson, but were not able to convert. "We had one time where we crossed the goal four times," Coach Hunter said. "We had four shots in a row on goal and didn't convert. We've faced a couple of good keepers the past two games, but still, we just have to get the ball in the net."

But the team played defense well enough to keep Dawson off the board as well, sending the game to penalty kicks. "The confidence in our girls at the end of the game [was something] you could really see," the coach said. "They knew exactly what they had to do."

Dawson made its first two, and Union missed its first, leaving the Lady Panthers down 2-0 before Jordan West stepped up for her penalty kick.

West drilled her kick in before Jenna Sarrell laced one right in the corner to tie it 2-2. Bonnie Ann Sarrell then gave Union what would turn out to be the game winning kick. Dawson had one final chance, but the shot sailed over the cross bar.

Coach Hunter said that West in particular really gave the team a boost in that game. "You can't win without a lot of your players, but that is one person there whose effort and drive during that ballgame definitely changed the game in our favor," the coach said.

Union 1 - North Oconee 2

The Lady Panthers appeared to have a win over the Lady Titans in hand, but the game slipped away. "We had the game won and just made a couple of mistakes there at the end [including] giving them a penalty kick," Coach Hunter said. "Not just that, but we took so many shots on goal compared to them. We just should have scored more. But there were a lot of things that went into not winning that game."

The team lost the penalty kick battle 3-1, but the winner of the penalty kicks is only credited for 1 goal, meaning the final score of the game goes down as 2-1.

But the coach said that the experience of the penalty kicks helped the team win the following game against Dawson. "We got in there on penalty kicks and panicked a little bit," Coach Hunter said. "Even though you can practice penalty kicks you can't simulate the pressure of the game being on the line and being out there really tired and having to shoot. Having that experience really helped us for Dawson."