J.L. Mann takes girls soccer Crescent Cup

J.L. Mann defeated Lexington 2-0 on Saturday at Brookland-Cayce to win the first Crescent Cup girls’ soccer tournament.

The Patriots, Class 4A runners-up last season, went 4-0 in the tournament co-hosted by Brookland-Cayce and Airport.

“It was quite an accomplishment,” coach Steve Georgopoulos said. “We came to a tournament that we have never played before, and we did fantastic. We knew there would be some quality teams here that would make a difference in the end of how competitive we’ll be.

“Lexington is a pretty great competitor that was able to put up a great game,” Georgopoulos said, “and we felt like we needed a game like that to give us future goals. It’s such a fantastic feeling, because we knew that to even think about the state final this year, we had to make sure we played against quality teams like Lexington.”

J.L. Mann (13-1-1) did its damage in the second half, as Arianna Milicia dinged a crossing shot off the far post and into the near side net in the 51st minute.

The Wildcats looked to answer, but could not finish. Lexington got six shots on goal.

Wildcats coach Chris Fryland said, “We didn’t really have our legs after playing five or six games this week. We tried to play a little bit more defensively, hold them and try to counterattack and see if we could beat them.”

With 12 minutes left, Mann’s Sarah Dixon put in the insurance goal from 10 yards out.

Lexington sophomore keeper Gracyn Burgess faced 13 shots, notching seven saves.

“To keep maybe probably one of the top teams in the state to two goals,” Fryland said, “and starting six freshmen and with a couple of injuries, we’re excited about the next four weeks coming up.”

Lexington (14-1-1) finished the tournament 3-1.