High school soccer playoffs: Fourth-ranked Cherokee Bluff girls make quick work of Southeast Whitfield in first round of 4A tournament

Apr. 13—If there was any concern that the Cherokee Bluff girls soccer team would face some rust after not playing for nearly two weeks, it put those worries to rest very early in its first-round Class 4A state playoff match with Southeast Whitfield.

How early? Exactly 13 seconds was all that was need to grab the lead, and the fourth-ranked Lady Bears scored twice more in the first nine minutes of the match, including a milestone goal from Kaitlin Cook, to set the tone for a 6-1 victory Thursday at Yonah Field.

The junior forward finished with three goals, including the 100th of her career, while Alyssa Stringer added a goal and two assists to help propel Cherokee Bluff (16-2) into the second round, where a road game against No. 10 Lovett awaits Wednesday at Bill Railey Field in Atlanta.

And it didn't take long for the Lady Bears to establish themselves after the long layoff since the conclusion of the regular season.

"We started off great," Cherokee Bluff girls coach Calvin Cook said. "(Southeast Whitfield) came from two and a half hours away, so they started a little slow. Thankfully, we were quick on the start and were able to pop a couple (goals) in and go up early ... I really think that determined the outcome of the game in the end."

The Lady Bears had pep in their collective step right from the opening kickoff, which Anna Gessner controlled before dribbling to her right and sending a long ball up the right sideline.

Stringer then showed she had fresh legs by sprinting past her defender to pursue the pass on the right wing and draw Yareli Garcia off her line.

The senior beat the Southeast Whitfield (9-6-2) goalkeeper and made a move around her before sending a roller toward the empty net.

Cook raced passed her defender and had a chance to tap in the loose ball for her milestone goal.

Instead, she simply ran into to position to box out any Lady Raider from clearing the ball and allowed it to roll into the net for Stringer's goal, and a 1-0 lead just 13 seconds in.

However, Cook wouldn't need long to make history.

Just under three minutes later, she sent a right-wing cross from Stringer on net that Garcia made the initial save on before pouncing on the long rebound and hammering home the goal with 36:46 left in the first half.

The goal not only extended the Cherokee Bluff lead to 2-0, but also made Cook the second Hall County player to reach 100 career goals this season, joining Flowery Branch's Sarah Greiner, but also the first player in county history to reach the century mark in her third high school season.

"It's definitely a goal I've had ever since coming into my freshman year," said Kaitlin Cook, who now has 40 goals on the season after Thursday's hat trick. "I didn't know I was going to reach it this early, especially since I missed (several early) games playing basketball. But I'm definitely excited."

Kaitlin Cook was far from done, as she took a long through ball from Eva Martin in stride to beat the Southeast Whitfield defense before making a move around Garcia for her second goal of the night just 5:35 later at the 31:11 mark to make it 3-0.

Amelia Dovie and Cook each added goals in the final 8:13 of the half to send Cherokee Bluff into intermission with a commanding 5-0 lead.

However, Southeast Whitfield wasn't about to go down without a fight and came out in the second half controlling possession throughout the early minutes.

While the Lady Raiders were able to send several shots on net, the Lady Bears defense, led by junior Carson DeMars, helped keep them at long range, and goalkeeper Avery Fowler was able to smother all those shots before giving way to reserve Emily Benjamin in the game's 55th minute.

Southeast Whitfield kept up the pressure, and finally connected on one of those long-range shots when Allison Maldonado scored from about 25 yards out on the right wing with 21:45 to play to cut the Cherokee Bluff lead to 5-1.

However, Benjamin was able to settle in, and the Lady Bears regained control of the pace of the game before Martin split the Southeast Whitfield defense on a through ball from Cook to put the game away with a goal with 7:49 remaining.

"We got a little sloppy towards the middle (of the game) with turnovers and losing possession," Calvin Cook said. "(But) we were able to find our way home and get the good result. ... They got a goal and kind of made us sit back and think a little bit and reorganize."

In addition to the big night from Kaitlin Cook and Stringer, Cherokee Bluff also got a goal and an assist each from Dovie and Martin, plus the opening assist from Gessner.

And Kaitlin Cook is confident she and her teammates will carry over that momentum into next week's second-round game at Lovett, which she knows they will need against a traditional state powerhouse.

"Obviously, they were the 2A state champions last year," Kaitlin Cook said of the Lady Lions. "So, it's not going to be an easy one. But I think if we pull together and prepare as a team, we can give it a good shot."