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“We couldn’t let two goals in,” Danes head coach Jen Barr said. “We needed to just win and take care of business. If we won, we were good.”
Well, Denmark took any of the three-way tiebreaker scenarios that would have complicated seeding out of the equation with a comprehensive 3-0 win Tuesday at West Forsyth.
“These girls love each other,” Barr said. “I’m proud of them for their heart to bounce back after losing against Forsyth Central for the region championship and the No. 1 seed. I’m proud of them for locking in the two [seed].”
Had the Danes closed out their match against the Bulldogs after leading 2-0 with under 18 minutes remaining, then Denmark (9-3, 4-1) and West Forsyth (6-8, 2-3) would have entered Tuesday’s game with nothing to gain.
Instead, the Wolverines saw an opportunity to catapult themselves up to the second seed by winning the tiebreaker against Denmark and Milton. It would take a victory by multiple goals, but for the two-time defending state champions, that wasn’t a monumental task.
However, the Danes controlled the vast majority of the game and certainly created better overall chances.
Just 10 minutes into the game, Sydni Whitehead opened the scoring with a long-range effort. The senior bent her left-footed shot from the middle of the field into the right corner from 20 yards out.
It wound up being the Bellarmine signee’s closest goal of the night. Inside the final minute, Whitehead lofted a 40-yard effort that drifted over the West Forsyth goalkeeper and nestled under the crossbar.
“When a holding midfielder scores two goals for you, that’s a good night,” Barr said of Whitehead. “It’s a really good night.
“I’m really proud of her. She got the game ball tonight.”
Jordan Crosby scored the other goal for Denmark, finishing off a 1-2 with Maddie Stoddard for a 2-0 lead just beyond the midway point of the second half.
In fact, Crosby’s goal came 42 seconds before the exact timestamp when Forsyth Central started its comeback last week.
This time, though, there was no rally to be had against the visiting Danes.
“As a coach, I purposely scheduled non-region tough games — Buford, Dunwoody and Chamblee — for obvious reasons,” Barr said. “To give them something to get them down, give them something to struggle with and to fight through that adversity.
“In the region, that [loss to Forsyth Central] was a wakeup call.”
No. 9 Denmark made sure history didn’t repeat itself, as the Danes limited the Wolverines’ opportunities the rest of the way before Whitehead put a bow on things.
“They were shook up last week,” Barr said of her defense. “We didn’t have our starting goalkeeper. Brooke [DeBartolo] played well tonight. She’s a freshman, so that’s good.
“The backline really did a good job.”
Having clinched the No. 2 seed, the Danes are slated to host Kennesaw Mountain in the Class 7A state playoffs — following a pair of non-region tuneups.
The final result saw West Forsyth finish alone in fourth place, forcing the Wolverines to travel to No. 3 Walton in the first round.
Perhaps, West Forsyth will be able to take a page out of Denmark’s book in hopes of going on a run to defend its crown.
“After the Forsyth Central loss, we said we had to hit the reset button,” Barr said. “We’re good. They were focused, and they were ready tonight. I’m really proud of them.
“We had a lot of missed shots, but the chances were there. The work rate was there. The effort was there.”
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