Playing against Allatoona in the quarterfinals of Georgia AAAAA state tournament was different from other games played this season, sophomore Anthony Hoelle said.

“Allatoona has a turf field and it had been raining all day,” Hoelle said. “This made the ball move faster and it took some time to adjust to.”  The Panthers kept their footing and defeated the Bucs 1-0 Saturday.

“We were able to pull out the win despite the difficult conditions,” head soccer coach Mike Hanie said. “The boys got the job done again and are excited to go on to the semifinals.”

Sophomore Armon Varmeziar said they won their second round playoff game because of their preparation.

The Panthers defeated Glynn Academy, which was ranked second in the state AAAAA classification, 4-2 in penalty kicks after 60 minutes of play on Wednesday, May 8.

“We practice taking penalty kicks every day in practice,” Varmeziar said. “This way we were confident and put most of ours in the back of the net.”  Scoring were juniors Walter Hix and Tylan Jones and sophomores Channing Park and Jahmeil Curwen.

Hanie said he is happy with the hard-fought win.

“We struggled keeping possession of the ball throughout the game, but secured the win in penalty kicks.  Before the next game we need to work on our passing as a team.”

The Panthers will travel to Houston County High School tomorrow to face the Bears in the semifinals.