Stratford wins state championship 4-3 over rival FPD, completes perfect season

When the Stratford girls soccer team — less than 60 seconds from a state championship and a perfect 20-0 season — gave up a gut-wrenching, game-tying goal against archrival FPD in Tuesday’s title game, two words went through Eagles head coach Kate Blankenship’s head.

“Uh oh,” Blankenship recalled after the game of her thoughts in that moment.

An appropriate thought, given that Vikings star Bowen Matthews’ header came barely two minutes after Stratford had notched its own dramatic score to take a 3-2 lead. The swing was an agonizing one that, for just a moment, cost the Eagles a trophy and sent the game to overtime.

Lesser teams might have withered after the heartbreaking equalizer. 

This Stratford team was different. So was their head coach, who did not let the words “uh oh” stick in her mind for long.

“Well, I turned around (after the game-tying goal) and was like, ‘Alright, we gotta find a way to win again,’” Blankenship said.

And the Eagles did find a way. They were unphased in overtime, heeding Blankenship’s encouragement and riding a game-winning goal from Emma Lizotte to win the GIAA Class 4A State Championship 4-3 over FPD in an epic rivalry clash for the ages.

“The ability for them to be down twice and fight their way back, then score (what they thought) was a game-winner with two minutes left and give up a goal, and not fold. That shows their resilience,” Blankenship said after celebrating with her team. “The resilience of this group is unbelievable. I’m so proud of them.”

Lizotte, a junior, had plenty of time to set up a sizzling shot with about three minutes left in overtime after a nearby defender wobbled a bit and lost track of her. She loaded up and belted one from about 20 feet outside the penalty area that streaked past the Vikings’ keeper to give Stratford the lead and the win.

“In the moment, I knew I had already gotten a couple shots so I was just waiting for that next goal. I just got a good foot on it,” Lizotte said. “When I took my touch, I knew it was gonna go in.”

Her effort was one of many sparkling performances for Stratford, which also got goals from freshman Hadley Stewart, senior Campbell McIntyre and eighth grader Maddie Biesterfeld. Those scores countered impressive FPD goals from Katelynn Jackson and Matthews, who punched in two goals to cap her all-time great FPD career.

The match was a fight to the death that both rivals expected — especially after their most recent meeting, a Stratford win, was decided by penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in regulation. 

“After the last game we had here, the way we’d been playing and how they’d been playing … I knew it was gonna be a battle,” FPD head coach Josh Trieste said. “At the end of the day, (someone) said, ‘Whoever paid their $20 got their money’s worth tonight.’ I knew it was gonna be a good game. They’ve got a good team.”

There was even more anticipation for the contest after a rain delay pushed kickoff all the way to 9:30 p.m. That rain also turned the field into a slurry of mud and grass, quickly dirtying FPD’s all-white uniforms and giving the showdown even more of an “instant classic” vibe — but also making the pitch more treacherous for the competitors.

Both coaches said they were satisfied with their teams’ performances on the slippery field, especially in a hard-fought game that was tied at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 at different points.

Jackson scored the Vikings’ first goal almost immediately after the game began, its near-instantaneous nature shocking the Stratford crowd. She did a good job evading defenders before she skidded a wormburner that eked past Stratford keeper Maggie Jamison. 

It was an interesting start for the Eagles, who have not trailed often this year amid a dominant campaign. But they had already come back from a 2-0 deficit in the semifinals last week. With another hole to climb out of, Blankenship’s squad didn’t seem to miss a beat.

“We’re a talented team, but there’s a lot of talented teams in this state. I think that tonight showed the kind of separation and reaching potential,” Blankenship said. “You have to have the intangibles, that kind of extra grit, the character and the maturity to look at a down-goal situation and know that we’re still in it. 

“To push through and make that fall their way is just a testament to their heart and leaving blood, sweat and tears on the field.”

After the early FPD goal, things were scrappy and intense. Both teams created plenty of chances by intercepting and moving the ball across the entire field. Players ran full speed for every ball in space, often slipping and sliding on the mucky grass. Jamison made some solid saves that kept it a one-score game.

But after 36 minutes of that, Stratford had seen enough. Stewart’s goal, a stunning one, tied the game and bookended the opening half. Her shot — a corner kick, in fact — somehow curled its way from the field’s left boundary to the right side of the net, putting the Eagles right back in it before halftime.

The second half had a similar flow. Matthews scored on a laser after a deflected free kick to put FPD up 2-1 only three minutes into the second half. Stratford got its game-tying goal with about 15 minutes left to play from Campbell McIntyre.

Then came Biesterfeld’s heroic shot for Stratford. After corralling a deflected ball and swerving her way past a defender, Biesterfeld blistered one into the net with only three minutes left as the post-rain haze, which had been procuring all night, was at its thickest over the scuffed grass of Hays Field.

 It felt like the death knell for the Vikings — until Matthews’ miracle header with less than a minute remaining.

“We had this three years ago. In the Final Four, it was a 0-0 game, (St. Anne-Pacelli) scored with 1:40 left and Bowen scored less than a minute later,” Trieste recalled. “I think that’s just something that every coach would like his players to do. We’ve got players that don’t necessarily panic. … These girls don’t quit.”

But the Eagles got the last laugh, dominating the overtime period. Lizotte’s clutch shot was one of three great looks she had in the 10-minute time frame, and she only needed to net one to clinch the trophy for Stratford.

The 4-3 final likely cemented the matchup as one of the best in the rivalry’s lengthy history.

“For Middle Georgia to see that game go 90 minutes just is a testament to the whole Middle Georgia soccer community,” Blankenship said. “I’m just proud to be a spoke on that wheel.”