VALDOSTA — Valdosta High’s boys earned a big Region 1-AAAAA victory Friday night, defeating Coffee 3-2 on Cleveland Field.

The win kept Valdosta in third place in the region at 4-3.

“We needed this win bad,” Valdosta head coach Bob Blevins said. “We needed this win to stay in the top three. It felt good to get a win, after losing our last three games.”

Ryan Steltenpohl’s first varsity goal gave Valdosta a 2-1 lead in the 27th minute, and T.J. Brown’s goal in the 34th minute provided a valuable insurance goal for the ‘Cats. The Wildcat defense and goalkeeper Robby Steltenpohl then made several big stops in the closing minutes to hold on to the lead.

“This was a big win,” Blevins said. “I thought we played much better tonight as a team.”

Coffee took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. The Trojans worked the ball around on the attack, while Chris Benson slipped to the back post unguarded. Benson then redirected a pass into the net for the goal.

Ten minutes later, Valdosta got the goal back. Dewey McCowen got the ball on the left side, raced in, and shot the ball hard at the far side of the net. Coffee goalie Pax Pow leaped, but the shot flew past him, and into the upper right corner of the net, tying the score, 1-1.

“That was a Dewey special. Just get the ball, turn, and shoot it as hard as he can,” Blevins said. “That was a nice shot.”

In the 27th minute, the ball was passed across midfield to Ryan Steltenpohl, who got the ball in the open field, sped past a defender, maneuvered around another one as he got into the box, and from eight yards out, shot the ball past a charging Pow and into the net. The freshman’s first-ever varsity goal was a big one, giving the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.

“Ryan played a real good game,” Blevins said. “He had a good year for the JV, and we felt comfortable putting him out there. He played well.”

In the 34th minute, the Wildcats added another goal. Miguel Pena got around a defender, then passed to T.J. Brown on the left side. Brown took a few steps, then took a hard shot past the goalie into the goal, making it 3-1.

Coffee made it 3-2 in the 50th minute, again scoring with a pass to an unguarded man on the back post, this time Chris White.

Coffee had the ball in the Valdosta box numerous times, but couldn’t get another shot past Robby Steltenpohl, who made big stops in the 73rd and 75th minute.

“Robby was solid in goal for us,” Blevins said.



Coffee girls 2, Valdosta 1



The girls game was decided in a heartbreaking finish Friday.

The score was tied most of the game, 1-1. Then in the 79th minute, less than two minutes before the end of regulation, a Coffee player took a shot across the box. The shot was headed for the right goalpost when it hit a VHS defender, and went into the net for an own goal.

The game was a competitive one. Coffee got on the board with a goal in the 19th minute.

Then in the 26th minute, Valdosta attacked the box. Leading scorer Chelsey Homans dribbled in, and as she was being pulled down by a defender, shot the ball. It hit Coffee goalie Lisa Taylor and rebounded to Kelly Bennett. Taylor stopped Bennett’s shot, but it went right back to Homans, who blasted it into the net to tie the score.