BOGART, Ga. — A late penalty by Prince Avenue dashed the Social Circle Redskins’ region championship hopes Friday night. After leading 1-0, Social Circle surrendered back-to-back goals late to lose 2-1.
Head coach Jim Corasaniti was direct about the reason why his team came up short.
“We just got too comfortable that we were going to win,” Corasaniti said. “In the last 20 minutes, we got lazy. We really controlled the whole game and then we just got lazy. That was the biggest thing.”
With the score tied 1-1, a foul was called against Social Circle in the box, which calls for a penalty kick. Prince Avenue converted the attempt by placing the ball in the net past goalie Jase Peters.
The goal was scored in the closing minutes, making it difficult for Social Circle to draw back even.
It did muster a few attempts despite the short time frame, but all were unsuccessful.
The Redskins did, however, score a goal when the match seemed destined to go into overtime for the second occasion this season.
Preston Guy maneuvered his way through the Wolverine defense and fired a shot. Guy’s shot went in for his sixth goal of his sophomore campaign.
But Corasaniti was not pleased with his team’s lackadaisical approach following the score.
“It was definitely a disappointing night, because we dominated,” Corasaniti said. “We possessed the ball the whole game and, in the last 20 minutes, [Prince Avenue] didn’t quit and we quit. We just got lazy — ‘Hey, we’re ahead’ — and a lot of times we come out on the winning end. Tonight, we did not.”
Prince Avenue tied the score when a Wolverine crossed the ball from the right corner all the way to in front of the goal. Another Wolverine swooped in and placed the ball in the top left of the goal out of the reach of Peters.
As a result, the Redskins’ quest for a second straight region title were squashed. They tied with Oglethorpe County atop the Region 5A-Division I standings at 4-2, with the Patriots owning the tiebreaker.
Nevertheless, the Redskins will enter the Class A-Division I playoffs as the No. 2 seed and will host the first round.
Before that, though, Social Circle concluded the regular season with back-to-back non-region home games against Eastside and Putnam County. The two games will be played on Tuesday and Thursday of this week, respectively.
Corasaniti wants to see one thing from his team in the final week of the regular season.
“We can’t be complacent,” Corasaniti said. “We got to learn that we got to play 80 minutes from now on full steam ahead. They’re out there talking to them, ‘Hey, they’re my buddy. I’m getting in their head.’ It didn’t work out and it backfired for them. And, though we respect the other team, they’re not our friends when we’re playing.
“All the state games are going to be close. So, this is a good learning curve for them.”
