DALTON, Ga. — It wasn't how Matt Cheaves would have preferred it, but the Dalton Catamount soccer team continued its dominance over interstate rival Baylor Tuesday night at Harmon Field.
The Catamounts, six times a Georgia state champion, used four goals from red-hot Ezekiel Ortiz -- giving him seven in the last two games -- to rally past the Red Raiders 5-4 on a crisp first official day of spring.
With the win, Dalton (13-2) has won seven of the eight meetings between the teams since 2014, with the other one ending in a 1-1 tie.
"Baylor is strong once again," Cheaves said of the five-time TSSAA champions. They have some excellent talent and they are able to create some chances around the goal. Playing them always makes us better."
The nine goals scored are the most in the eight games. Dalton came in having allowed just 10 goals in 14 games, but the athletic Red Raiders, who worked well from side to side on the offensive end, gave the Catamounts issues defensively.
"They put a lot of pressure on us," Cheaves said, "and we didn't respond very well."
The Catamounts graduated 12 seniors off last year's GHSA Class AAAAAA runner-up team and have only three seniors this season. The inexperience has shown up at times, Cheaves admits, but captain Ortiz has taken the team on his shoulders offensively.
"Zeke is scoring a lot lately and he's getting a lot of opportunities for our team," Cheaves said. "He's doing a really good job of being a captain and leader for this young team."
Ortiz scored the game's first goal just over five minutes in, but it was the Red Raiders (3-1-1) who held a 3-2 lead at halftime. Dalton's Alexis Plaza scored off a corner kick to tie it four minutes into the second half, but Gui Gragnano put a go-ahead goal in with just under 14 minutes left off a scramble in front of the Dalton goal.
A little over a minute later Ortiz put a header home off a rebound, the ball trickling in off the right crossbar to tie it at four. He then shot a rocket in from 18 yards out a couple of minutes later to put the Cats ahead for good.
"This was a great test for us," Cheaves said. "We're really young, and we haven't learned to adapt on the fly just yet, but this is a good step for us and hopefully we can build on it."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.