Senior Perri Bonner takes control of the ball and begins to sprint towards the Lakeside defenders. Photo by Kate de Give

Freshman Gracie Griffith steps up to head the ball away from the Grady goal. Photo by J.D. Capelouto

Feb. 26, the Grady girls and boys soccer teams both played Lakeside at Grady stadium. The girls’ game began with a hard-fought first half that ended 0-0. Senior Captain Abby Orlansky said in the second half, however, Lakeside proved to be the dominant team.

“We picked it up a little bit in the second half, but they fought harder,” Orlansky said. “They out-played us, for sure.”

As a result, Lakeside scored late in the second half, and ended up defeating the Grady girls 1-0.

In the boys’ game, the stadium lights went out after 75 minutes of close play, in which no goals were scored by either team. After the teams and spectators waited in the dark for more than ten minutes, the lights came back on and the game resumed.
With 17 seconds left in the game, Grady attempted to break the tie with a shot to the corner, but the ball went just wide. The game ended in a 0-0 tie.

“I think in the first half we dominated and were definitely the better team. By the second half they changed their strategy and just started playing balls over the top. Many of us got tired,” Senior Captain Justin Williams said. “After the lights went out we had a brief reprieve and we regrouped. Grady went at them for the last six minutes.”