DALTON, Ga. – The Dalton soccer team squandered plenty of opportunities Wednesday that would have turned their Class AAAA state second-round playoff game with Johnson into a blowout. Yet they made just enough shots to advance.
The top-ranked Catamounts scored a pair of first-half goals but had to hold off the fourth-ranked Knights 2-1 to advance to the state quarterfinals. It was a good night in general for Region 7-AAAA, as fifth-ranked Northwest Whitfield defeated No. 2 Chestatee 4-1, while ninth-ranked Southeast Whitfield beat No. 3 Carrollton 6-1.
The Catamounts (19-0) will host Jonesboro on Saturday. They made their living Wednesday evening countering the Knights’ pressure. The visitors employed a physical style of play and used a couple of defenders to shadow Dalton scoring stalwart Ramiro Huitanda.
“We needed that type of game,” Dalton coach Matt Cheaves said. “We couldn’t do what we wanted to do, but a good team won’t let you do what you want to do. We needed a game that we had to fight until the end.”
Johnson (14-3-2) had the first solid opportunity, but Alan Pantaleon had a diving non-keeper save. Moments later, the Catamounts got on the board on a goal by Javier Rodriguez, assisted by an Eder Mora throw-in. Mora had what he thought was a goal 45 seconds earlier on a throw-in, but the referees ruled that nobody had touched the ball prior to it going in.