Walton converted four consecutive attempts in the penalty-kick shootout and goalkeeper Graycen Ehlen came up with two big saves to give the Raiders a victory in the Class 6A girls soccer championship game Thursday at McEachern High School in Powder Springs.
Walton won 4-2 in penalty kicks after the teams had played 100 minutes without a goal. Reagan Mulberry, Brooklynn Mulberry, Lila Jaillet and Ana Ramos made the four penalty kicks for Walton. Sabrie Vargas and Layla Washington converted Buford’s first two attempts, but Ehlen blocked the Wolves’ next two to give the Raiders the victory.
“She’s a heck of a goalkeeper,” Walton coach Jason Page said. “She’s probably our defensive player of the year, and she obviously had some big moments tonight. … We worked on PKs all year. As a high school coach, my only playoff losses have been to PKs, so we were not losing this one.”
The championship was the first for Walton in girls soccer since winning an all-classification title in 1993. The GHSA began recognizing champions in the sport the previous year.
The title also was Walton’s first during the current school year, giving the Raiders at least one state title every year since 1998. The Raiders’ boys and girls tennis teams, girls golf team and baseball team could add to their total over the next week.
Buford has won 67 state titles in 13 sports in its history but has never won a boys or girls soccer championship. The Wolves’ girls lost to West Forsyth on penalty kicks in last year’s final.
Both teams had their scoring opportunities, but neither could take advantage. Walton had three good looks at the goal in the first half, the best being a short shot by Haidyn Jenkins from the left side that was stopped by Buford goalkeeper Natalie Dinh 21 minutes into the game.
Buford had the best chances in the second half and overtime. Evany Torres fired from close range in the first overtime period and had a header in the box in the second, but Ehlen stopped both shots.
“I think we know how Buford plays,” Jaillet said. “We know they’re going to come at us. We’ve played them multiple years, and it’s always a battle. We had to fight as hard as we could and give it our all. It was our last game, and we had to leave it all out on the field. We lost to them last year in PKs [in the Class 7A semifinals], and we knew this was our year.”
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