Parkview Girls Edged by Brookwood 2-1; Boys Game Postponed

Parkview (9-8-0) lost to the Brookwood Broncos (13-3-0) 2-1 Friday in girls soccer played in Lilburn.

The game was played before heavy weather arrived and postponed the boys game, which will be played Saturday night.

Parkview got off to a great start early in the game. Kiki Nelson scored a goal 30 seconds into the match but was disallowed for being offside.

 The Panthers could have dealt a mental blow to the Broncos if the goal had stood.

With eight minutes left in the half, Washida Blackman of Brookwood received a through pass from Avery Lee and cut through three defenders to take on Panther keeper Asha Wright one-on-one. Blackman pulled Wright to the left and then shot into the bottom right corner past a diving Wright.

Brookwood led 1-0.

Brookwood stuck again when Blackman received a beautiful through pass that was perfectly placed in the box. Blackman all alone again against Wright did the same move as she did in the first goal. Wright recognized the play but slipped as she dove to her left hand side to block the ball. The ball skipped into the bottom right corner to give Brookwood a 2-0 lead.

Two minutes left in the half and Parkview’s Nelson kicked a cross from the right side of the box that connected with Alex Ober. Ober’s shot in the bottom left corner was saved by the Brookwood keeper. The ball went out of bounds for a corner.

Ober took the corner from the left hand side and sent the ball into the box. Panther’s Nelson and Alex Truitt collided as they went for the header and the ball dropped a few feet in front of the two. Iris Gonzalez of Parkview found a way to the loose ball and powered it into the back of the net.

Parkview closed the half down 2-1.

The second half was a defensive battle with few shots on target by either team.

Stephanie Gutierrez tricked the entire Brookwood defense with 15 minutes left in the game. She received the ball deep in the box and started dribbling away from the goal when she suddenly turned and chipped the ball over the defense. Nelson received the pass all alone as the Brookwood defense scrambled to recover. Nelson faked the keeper, forcing the keeper to dive, and her shot was going in the bottom right corner of the goal but Megan Morrow of Brookwood saved the game by racing to clear the ball off the goal line.

The Panthers were having difficulty holding back Lee and Blackman throughout the match. The two fast and strong forwards were matched defensively by Parkview’s Cherelle Jarrett, Allison Litchfield and Maddie Ober.

Cherelle Jarrett was moved to midfield and provided an offensive spark for the Panthers. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Brookwood took a defensive stance to grind out the win.

The Panthers play their final regular season game against Central Gwinnett (3-6-0) Tuesday April 19 at 5:30 p.m.