St. Pius X, Westminster and Paideia swept the 2013 Georgia High School Association’s boys and girls Class AAA, AA and A state championships, respectively, in finals held on the campuses of Kennesaw State and West Georgia.
In the AAA finals, the St. Pius girls got their championship first with a 1-0 victory over Blessed Trinity. The boys capped the sweep with a 2-0 win over Woodward Academy.
It was St. Pius’ fourth state title in five seasons, while the boys captured their ninth state championship and third in the past five years.
Junior forward Amanda Vocelka scored the game’s only goal with six and a half minutes left in the game. The Golden Lions (19-1-3) had missed on several early opportunities in the first half and controlled play throughout much of the game.
“We had some chances that we didn’t finish, but maybe getting unlucky or passing it one too many times and getting one too many touches,” said St. Pius head coach Sara Geiger, a former standout at Parkview HS and Samford University. “But slowly the goals have come, and finally it did. It finally paid off.”
The victory was the 14th shutout of the season for St. Pius goalkeeper Hannah Smith.
Blessed Trinity (17-3-1) was going for its sixth title over the past 10 seasons. The Titans opened the season with 11 consecutive shutouts and finished with 15 overall, allowing just eight goals in 21 games.
Tyler Alexander put the St. Pius boys up 1-0 midway through the first half against Woodward, the defending state champion, J.D. Manzo added the second goal in the second half.
The victory gave St. Pius an unbeaten 19-0-2 mark. It was the third time St. Pius had swept the boys and girls titles in the same season. They did it previously in 2001, 2009 and 2011.
The Golden Lions, behind goalkeeper Ryan Beck, posted 16 shutouts, including all five in postseason as they outscored opponents 22-0 in the state playoffs.
Westminster Wildcats Are Double Winners
The Class AA boys title went to the Wildcats with a 1-0 victory over Calhoun on Harrison Butker’s goal off a Trey Blassingame corner kick with about seven minutes left in the game.
It was the third consecutive AA state title for the Westminster boys.
The Westminster girls (15-5-0) also got a one-goal victory with a 3-2 win over Greater Atlanta Christian. Kathryn Murray, Liza Lingenfelter and Caroline Beadles each scored goals in the first half to secure the Wildcats’ first girls state title since 2005.
Greater Atlanta Christian mounted a second-half comeback on goals from Rachel Garcia and Taylor Wagon, but could not get the equalizer.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the girls,” said Westminster coach Clark Meyer. “We could not have scripted the game any better. Our girls played their hearts out.”
Paideia Wins With PK Shootout
The Class A boys final was a “shootout” in two ways. First eight goals were scored combined by Paideia and Hebron before a 4-4 draw was decided by penalty kicks.
The Pythons won the title by winning the deciding PK shootout after goalkeeper Patrick Wilkerson came up big with a save and Eli Pinner made his kick for the win and the championship. Paideia won the shootout 4-1 on kicks from the penalty mark.
Hebron (16-3-1) overcame an early 2-0 deficit behind a hat trick from Cole Redman. Bailey Pinto’s goal with 20 minutes left put the Lions ahead 4-3. Paideia’s Malcolm Singleton extended the game when he scored with 90 seconds left in regulation.
Gustavo Martinez and Quill Yates scored first half goals for Paideia (21-1-0).
In the girls final, freshman Shivani Beall scored the tying and go-head goals to lift Paideia to a 3-2 overtime win over Fellowship Christian.
Fellowship Christian led 2-1 after Alexandra Lear scored early in the second half, but Beall tied with a goal with 9:14 left, and then scored the winner 35 seconds into the first OT period.
Alex Murdoch also scored for Paideia (14-6-0), which earned its first state title since 2001 and third overall.
Fellowship Christian’s Megan Hudgens scored a first-half goal for the Paladins (13-7-0), who were looking for their first state title.