For the Lovett Lions, the third time was better than a charm – it produced a championship.
Grace Jackson capitalized on nifty passes from Allie Lourie and Estee Park for a pair of first-half goals, lifting to a 2-0 win over St. Vincent’s on Friday in the Class AA girls state soccer championship at Anderson Field in Macon.
It’s Lovett’s third girls state title and first since 2005.
Lovett reached the championship game the past two seasons, only to fall to Greater Atlanta Christian. The Lions avenged those losses to GAC with a win over the Spartans in this year’s semifinals. They followed it up with a dominating performance against St. Vincent’s.
Jackson scored two minutes the game, banging home a shot off a sweet setup from Park, who beat multiple defenders before hooking up with her teammate.
Jackson made it 2-0 with header off a beautiful cross from Lourie with 14 minutes left in the first half.
St. Vincent’s keeper Holly McBride came up with two big saves in the first 10 minutes of the second half to keep the Saints in striking distance. But Lovett was just too strong and came up with defensive plays to thwart any St. Vincent’s challenge.
The Lions had an up-and-down regular season and settled for the four seed out of Region 6. Twice, they suffered back-to-back losses and coach Will Lozier admitted that his team lost its confidence at one point in the season.
“I think we were just resilient, persevered during some adversity,” Lozier said. “We got healthy at the right time and peaked at the right time, and here we are.”
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