Collins Hill fired shot after shot at Lassiter in the Class AAAAA boys soccer semifinals Wednesday. Sooner or later, it seemed, those shots would start finding the back of the net.
Eventually they did. Eli Carrasco scored on the Eagles’ 14th shot of the night with 18:40 remaining, and Amiri Abraham added a goal with 3:56 to play to give the Eagles a 2-1 victory at Lassiter that puts second-ranked Collins Hill (20-1) in the championship game for the fourth consecutive season.
The Eagles, who will host Walton on Saturday in the final, are trying to become the first team in Georgia to win three consecutive championships since St. Pius from 1995-97 in Class AAA.
Carrasco intercepted a clearing pass, dribbled past a defender and fired a shot from about 15 yards out on the right side that beat Lassiter goalkeeper Jon Stoll high on the left side.
Abraham’s goal, from about 12 yards out, turned out to be the game-winner because Lassiter made it close in the closing minutes. Shaban Abousaud scored with 1:11 to play to cut the lead to 2-1, but Lassiter could not tie it despite a frantic rush in the final seconds.
Top-ranked Lassiter (19-1-1), which had won 19 consecutive games since a 1-1 tie against Harrison in the opener Feb. 15, was averaging more than five goals per game.
“I felt like we came out and played really well in the first 20 minutes of the game,” Collins Hill coach Drew Prentice said. “We talked about that we had to weather the storm because they come out of the gates like no other team in the state.”
Collins Hill’s steady, controlled offense produced 11 first-half shots, including nine that were legitimate goal threats. Dominic Bonilla and Emmanuel Raji each had three clean shots, and Mark Riggins blasted a shot from 30 yards out of the right side that was tipped away by Stoll. Collins Hill outshot the Trojans 11-2 in the opening half.
Lassiter’s best chance of the half came when Bennett Eldredge appeared to score off a deflection after a free kick, but the Trojans were called for offside, and the goal was waved off.
“We said that if we could limit our mistakes in the back — and we still made too many and we’ll have to clean that up before Saturday — and not just give them easy chances, I felt like we could at least stay in the game,” Prentice said. “And that’s what we did.”
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