By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
GUYTON – South Effingham’s girls could count on a senior on Senior Night.
Senior Kylee Anderson scored twice in the second half, including a penalty kick with 3:44 left, to give the Mustang girls a 2-1 soccer victory over visiting Effingham County on March 19.
SEHS (6-7, 4-6 Region 2-6A) avenged a 1-0 loss to the Rebels on Feb. 27.
“It was Senior Night so everyone wanted to show out,” Mustangs coach Kate Blaske said. “When we played (Effingham County) the first time, we didn’t play up to our level and even tonight we didn’t.”
South had the 50-50 contest tilt in its favor by getting a 50-50 call. Anderson and ECHS goalie Dayanara Figueroa collided going for a loose ball in the penalty box. Figueroa was whistled for interference, setting up the game-winning penalty kick.
Anderson also scored the first goal of the game at 35:40 of the second half.
“Kylee just has such poise on the field. She can make things happen,” Blaske said.
It was the third straight win for the Mustangs to put them in contention for a state tournament berth.
“Everyone is starting to jell,” Blaske said. “The freshmen we have coming in are starting to jell with the seniors and upperclassmen. Everyone’s getting touches.”
Three days later, South couldn’t find the net in a 1-0 loss to Evans, which unseated the Mustangs and put the Knights in the driver’s seat for the fourth and final state playoff spot from Region 2.
Evans and the Mustangs entered this week tied for fourth, but the Knights hold the tiebreaker because of their two wins over South.
The Mustangs will have to win at least one of their final two region games – against the top two
Effingham County lost to Lakeside 2-0 on Friday and dropped to 2-11, 2-9 in region play. The Rebels finished region play against Brunswick on March 26.
