Lady Seahawks in district soccer finals tonight

The Lady Seahawks played in the district semifinals Tuesday night at home against rival Port St Joe Lady Tiger Sharks. 

The game was scoreless for the first 30 minutes until a handball penalty was called on Port Saint Joe 30 yards from the goal. Freshman Katie Seger drove the direct freekick towards the penalty box, which rebounded to sophomore Stephanie Marxsen, who drove the ball into the right corner to give the Lady Seahawks a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Seahawks played great defense in the second half, anchored by senior sweeper Jessica Dempsey. With five minutes left Macy Hunt made a great save on a close range shot in front of the goal. This was her sixth shutout of the year.

“I can't say enough about the job freshman Macy Hunt is doing as our goalkeeper,” said coach Kelli Maggio.

The Lady Tiger Sharks had one final chance on a corner kick taken with one minute left. The defense was able to clear the ball and the Lady Seahawks won 1-0.

"The game was a hard fought game, the girls left it all on the field tonight,” said Maggio. “"We dodged some bullets in the second half, they had some good shots on goal. The game could have gone either way."

 Franklin County will face the Rocky Bayou Lady Knights Friday at 7 p.m. at Mikel Clark Stadium in Eastpoint.

On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the Lady Seahawks faced the John Paul II Lady Panthers in Tallahassee. The Lady Seahawks took a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior Megan Newell off a rebounded shot from sophomore Adrianna Reeder. A few minutes later, the Lady Panthers #4 netted their first goal off a corner kick to tie the game 1-1. That was her only goal of the game after scoring five goals the first time the two teams squared off.

"Sophomore Gracyn Kirvin and freshman Katie Seger did a great job shutting down John Paul II's best player,” said Maggio.

Just minutes before the first water break sophomore Jessica Shields scored a beautiful goal off a shot from the top of the penalty box to give the Lady Seahawks a 2-1 lead, which they never relinquished. The final goal of the half came off a volley from a corner kick taken by Seger which gave the Lady Seahawks a 3-1 lead. Ten minutes into the second half John Paul closed the gap to 3-2.

The Lady Seahawks struck again with a goal by Shields off a great pass from Newell. The Seahawks’ final goal came off a shot from Newell which brought the score to 5-2.

"We did an excellent job of finishing our shots tonight,” said Maggio.