By Kailee Dick
Two girls soccer teams remain in District 7AA following Tuesday’s tournament semifinal round as the #1 seed Livingston Academy and #3 seed DeKalb County emerged victorious, setting up their championship game showdown on Thursday.
Cumberland County vs. DeKalb County
DeKalb County opened Tuesday’s action as they defeated Cumberland County 2-1.
“We really played together and gelled really well together,” said DeKalb County head coach Dylan Kleparek. “We played close together and made good passes, and I give a lot of credit to Cumberland County. They have put together a great team and missing a few of their top players, and you could see that tonight. Our girls held together, held strong, got the lead, and hung onto it. They finished it out and I could not be more proud of them.”
DeKalb County started the match strong as both Lady Tiger goals came in the first half. Senior Kendall Davis and sophomore Rosio Godinez found the back of the net for DeKalb County, while Cumberland County scored an own goal in the second half of the match.
Tuesday’s semifinal victory qualifies DeKalb County for their first district championship game appearance since 2010.
“If you backtrack to June, we started out with a team that was pretty young with only two returning starters, two seniors that have played all four years and a small group that had a lot to overcome,” said Kleparek. “We started with this saying from a poet, it says, ‘A wild thing never feels sorry for itself,’ and we never felt sorry for ourselves. We fought hard and we played like wild things.
“Throughout the year we got better and better and I believed in them,” he added. “We have a picture from the beginning of the year where they are holding up 4’s, and they said they were going to be the fourth-place team, and I said that is unacceptable we are not going to be the fourth, we are going to work harder and get to the championship.”
DeKalb County will play Livingston Academy in the district championship on Thursday in Baxter. Cumberland County finished the season with a record of 7-12 and 4-2 in district play.
Livingston Academy vs. Watertown
The Livingston Academy Wildcats have advanced to the District 7AA championship game for the 6th consecutive season as they defeated Watertown 4-1 in Tuesday’s semifinal matchup.
Both Livingston and Watertown started slow as only one goal came in the first half via Lady Wildcat junior Ella Copeland.
Momentum for both teams picked up late in the second half as Watertown junior Shayla Allison got her team on the board to tie the game at 1-1.
Livingston took control from there as the Lady Wildcats scored three more goals by Copeland, junior Mallori Lindsay and sophomore Tara Hinds while shutting Watertown out to make the final 4-1.
“We did not play our best,” said Livingston head coach Heather Marshall. “We beat them 9-0 in the season and 4-1 today. It was a very physical game, I am proud of them for turning things around in the second half. I am proud that we came out with a win today.
“(Ella Copeland) put us on our back that first half and part of the second half was her putting more on the board,” said Marshall. “We also had some beautiful kicks from her, and she is what opened the floodgates for us, so that was super important for her.”
Thursday will be Livingston Academy’s sixth consecutive district championship appearance. Livingston faced Cumberland County five consecutive times between 2018 and 2022, but this time it will be DeKalb County on the opposite sideline.
“My number is I want us to stay healthy,” said Marshall. “Of course also go out and get the win so we can host regions and come out district champs. We are kind of beat up right now and have a lot of healing to do in a 48 hour period. We are going to see what we can do with that and come back better Thursday.”
Regardless of Thursday’s outcome, both Livingston Academy and DeKalb County have qualified for the Region 3AA soccer tournament semifinals next week. Thursday’s championship is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
