Lady Spartans Fall To Blessed Trinity In Double Overtime

Blessed Trinity freshman Delaney Fechalos converted a penalty kick with 2:37 left in the second overtime to give the Titans a 1-0 win over Greater Atlanta Christian and to take the Class AA State Championship.

Both teams played an extremely hard-fought match throughout regulation and both teams had chances to score.  However, neither team was able to break the scoreless tie in regulation, or in the first 5 minute overtime period.

The Lady Spartans asserted their aggressiveness on offense in the later stages of regulation, and very nearly got a goal.  With a little over 17 minutes left in regulation,  sophomore forward Rachel Garcia drilled a shot that hit the crossbar and almost went into the net.  Earlier in the second half, senior defender Anna Douglas took a long free kick that sailed over the crossbar.  In spite of their efforts, the Lady Spartans were unable to break through, and the game went into overtime. 

The first 5-minute overtime produced no goals, so the game went onto a second 5-minute overtime.  With 2:37 left in the second OT period, a Blessed Trinity player was fouled in the box and the Lady Titans were awarded a penalty kick. Fechalos stepped up and took a low shot underneath the GAC keeper to give Blessed Trinity the 1-0 lead and eventually the State Title. 

"It never gets old.  This year, it was even more fun because we had such a young team.  We started 4 to 5 freshman," Blessed Trinity head coach Jean Batiste said.  "GAC's offense was awesome, but we weathered the storm.  We made some mistakes.  We were young on the field, but we got it done," Batiste said.

 Blessed Trinity has now won their fifth state championship in girls soccer.  The last won came in 2008.  They finish the 2011 season as Class AA State Champions with a record of 19-2-1.  GAC, the Class AA State runner up, finishes the season at 16-3-2.