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A double date in Elite 8 for RHHS soccer
soccer ball

Lady Wildcats upend No. 7 Brookwood

Thanks to an outstanding night in goal by freshman Kamdyn Martinez and a rock-solid overall team performance Richmond Hill’s unbeaten girls soccer team is in the Elite Eight of the GHSA state playoffs for the third straight year and sixth time in the last eight.

The unranked Wildcats (15-0), who are the only unbeaten team in Class 7A, got an early goal from Shannon Lacy and made it stand up to upset No. 7 Brookwood, 1-0, Monday night at Wildcats Stadium.

Richmond Hill will be looking for its first trip to the Final Four when it takes on Denmark on Monday at a time to be determined. This is the longest win streak for a Wildcats team since the 2015 team won its first 19 games before losing in the quarterfinals.

The game will be played at Richmond Hill following a universal coin flip conducted by the GHSA prior to the start of the playoffs to determine who would be the home team in the quarterfinals should two teams of equal seeds play.

It was determined the team in the lower half of the bracket would host and the Wildcats are the lower bracket team. Denmark is a three seed. Brookwood (14-4) provided the Wildcats their strongest test of the season and they, especially Martinez, were more than up to the test against a good offensive team.

It was the 13th shut out of the season and eighth straight for Richmond Hill which has given up only four goals all season, three to Calvary Day School and one to St. Vincent’s Academy.

“This is the first game Kam has been really tested and she did not disappoint at all,” Coach Kelly Anderson said. “She made great saves and she made the right calls when she was coming out (of the net).

“She saved the back a couple of times and I think the stress we felt tonight will help us in the future, too.”

As the game progressed the Broncos became more aggressive but Martinez and her fellow defenders held them in check. Then with a little more than a minute to play Martinez made a spectacular save in a one-on-one situation.

In one of those lonely moments in which a goalie can find themselves In a clean breakaway a Bronco player was bearing down at full speed on the goal with only Martinez in front of her.

She got off a point-blank shot but Martinez made a flying leap to her left and deflected the ball thus preserving the victory.

“That was one of the hardest plays a keeper can possibly goal tend for and make in a real live game,” Martinez said. “One, it’s not only timing your jump but, two, extending your arm, getting up over the post and staying up there.

“All I was doing was looking at that ball and where it was and keeping my hands near the goal where I could jump up and get that ball away from the goal.”

Anderson, in her first year as head coach after serving as an assistant under Dorothy Biron, said she was confident her team had what it took.

“I had no doubt they could come out here and win,” Anderson said. “At the end of the day the better team is going to walk away. Whoever capitalizes on their shots, that’s what matters.

“I think all of our defense had a good game,” Anderson said. “We have not been tested that much this year so it was good to see. They have very quick forwards and our defenders kept up with them.

“On that breakaway 90 percent of the time that will be a goal. That was 100 percent Kam on making that play.”

Wildcats topple Broncos in OT on road

You couldn’t blame the folks at Brookwood if they didn’t want to hear the name Richmond Hill ever again.

On Monday night the Richmond Hill girls soccer team knocked the Broncos out of the Class 7A state playoffs with a 1-0 second round win. That game was played at Wildcats Stadium.

On Tuesday night Coach Stephen Peterson’s boys team went one step better: it went on the road and beat Brookwood’s Region 4 champions, 3-2, in overtime to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2019.

It was the Wildcats’ second straight playoff game which went into overtime. Richmond Hill, a two seed, beat Carrollton, 3-2, in its opening round game which was played at home.

“These boys are going to give me a heart attack!” Peterson said. “Brookwood scored first in about the 20th minute on a breakaway. They dominated the first half.”

But, with about three minutes remaining in the first half the tide took a major turn when Tyler Diesman scored for the Wildcats for a 1-1 halftime tie.

“Tyler connected on the most beautiful bicycle kick I have ever seen off a great throw-in from Evan Wiebold,” Peterson said. “We went into the second half with much more motivation and energy than Brookwood.”

The Wildcats (12-4-1) made it 2-1 when Sebastian Gough took a short pass from Diesman on the outside of a corner kick. Brookwood evened the score with 10 minutes remaining.

When neither team was able to score it forced overtime but Richmond Hill wasted no time grabbing the lead.

“About 30 seconds into the first overtime 10-minute half Gus Gonzalez scored on a zinger shot from about 25 yards out,” Peterson said. “We defended out for the remaining 19 minutes of overtime for the big ‘W’.”

The Wildcats will have their work cut out for them in their next game as they play at state power Lambert (17-11) Tuesday at a time to be determined. The Longhorns, who were state champions in 2017 and 2018, are currently ranked No. 1 by the AJC.

“They’ve been a dominating force in boys soccer for about 20 years now,” Peterson said. “But we are peaking at the right time.”

Peterson said center back Jacob Sanchez and goal keeper Kyle Diesman were players of the game for the Wildcats.

“Jacob dominated the back line and neutralized at least 25 attacks during the game,” Peterson said. “Kyle had at least four diving saves to add to over 10 actual saves.”

The Wildcats took it down to the wire in the win over Carrollton.

Owen Baum scored with seven seconds remaining to force the extra period and Landon Little scored with 13 minutes remaining for what proved to be the game winner.

Kyle Diesman had 17 saves against Carrollton while Tyler Diesman and Gough had dominant games on both sides of the ball, Peterson said, noting Baum had a breakout game.

The Wildcats played Carrollton without Wiebold and Giovanni Amaini, both of whom received red cards in the final game of the regular season which called for them to sit out the game.

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