Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesValdosta Wildcats coach Jacob Crawford talks with his team during halftime of their game against the Georgia Christian Generals on Tuesday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

VALDOSTA –– Valdosta Wildcats soccer scored a pair of shutouts on the pitch Tuesday as they gear up for a key region matchup on Friday.

The Wildcat boys defeated the Generals 2-0 in the nightcap behind goals from Rolin Hernandez and Curtis Thomas.

Goalkeeping was big for the Generals as the Wildcats were able to get into scoring position often throughout but were thwarted. The Generals were able to keep the Wildcats out of the goal for the first 30 minutes of play, highlighted by back-to-back saves at the 13:57 mark.

The Wildcats’ first goal came at the 9:23 mark of the first half as Curtis Thomas found Hernandez for a score to open the scoring.

The Wildcats’ defense kept the Generals out of scoring position most of the night as the Generals never quite got into striking distance in the match.

Wildcats coach Jacob Crawford credited his team’s ability to finish key passes to breakthrough the Generals’ stellar goalkeeping.

“The issue for us we talked about at halftime was finishing,” Crawford said. “(Georgia Christian’s) goalie did a fantastic job. We talked about the number of shots we had––20 to 25 and he did a fantastic job. We kept playing very well the whole game but just being able to finish that last pass, that last shot, we were finally able to break it.

“A good individual effort on the second goal to capitalize on a mistake from their goalkeeper playing out of the back but we’ll take whatever we can get at this point.”

While the Wildcats kept the Generals out of scoring position, the Wildcats kept the pressure on by breaking the Generals’ pressure in the midfield to create shots on goal.

The Wildcats struck again with 11:35 to go in the second half when Thomas was able to get free and knock in a goal to seal the win.

“I definitely think the work rate in terms of possession was key for us,” Crawford said. “We were able to play out of the back––we didn’t give the ball any in the back. That start for us allows us to break through the midfield and get into those pockets behind theirs to where we have opportunities to play balls in behind their back line––whether it’s on the ground or diagonal balls in the air. The work rate from us getting in behind and keeping possession and movement off the ball is the biggest help for that.”

Despite the 2-0 victory, Crawford talked about some things he liked and some things he wants his team to clean up heading into Friday’s region matchup with the Coffee County Trojans.

“I certainly like the ability to possess the ball and I like the fact we had so many shots on goal in and around the box,” Crawford said. “Two things that we have to work on is our speed of play. When we play teams that aren’t necessarily pressing us as hard as others do, we tend to slow down and stand on the ball and dribble more than we should. Speed of play has to improve for us if we’re going to do anything in the playoffs.

“Finishing is another area for us to work on. Of course, if we’re going to have 25 shots, then we need more than two to go in so finishing is certainly what we’re going to train in the next two days before we play Coffee on Friday.”

Friday’s game carries major implications for the Wildcats. With a win, the Wildcats would clinch a playoff berth for the first time in 11 years. Crawford was an All-Region performer on that 2006 Wildcats team.

“I think it’s the biggest game in the past 11 years since the boys haven’t been in the playoffs,” Crawford said. “I think Coffee’s going to have very high pressure, they’re going to have skilled players on the ball, very good individually so when we’re caught one-on-one it could be an issue at times. To be honest, I expect us to do a lot of what we did tonight––maintain possession, work the ball through the midfield, find switches of play and hopefully do a better job finishing.”

The Valdosta Wildcat girls rode the hot boots of their freshman en route to a 3-0 win against the Generals in the opener.

Nayeli Cruz scored two goals in three shots while fellow freshman Kailey Williams added a goal of her own to give the Wildcats the victory.

The Wildcats got 14 shots in the match while the Generals only managed two the entire night. The Wildcats consistently moved the ball into scoring positions, particularly in the second half.

Playing with a cushion proved pivotal for the Wildcats as they scored two goals before intermission. The Generals threatened to get on the board with 35:47 remaining in the contest but stellar work by the Wildcats’ goalkeeper snuffed out the attempt. Williams’ goal with 6:36 put the finishing touches on the victory for the Wildcats.

“The cushion was big,” Wildcats captain Mary Grace Nix said. “We got a chance to play the ball out wide and bring the ball in the middle and eventually we were able to score one more.”

The Wildcats entered Tuesday’s game with an eye on maintaining possession and as team captain Fanitra Laurry said, sticking to what they do best goes a long way.

“Coming into the game, possession was a key thing,” Wildcats captain Fanitra Laurry said. “Coach told us to just possess the ball, play our game and play to our best ability and the win will come naturally.”

The Wildcats got 14 shots in the first half while holding the Generals to just two in the first 40 minutes. The Wildcats consistently moved the ball into scoring positions, particularly in the second half.

“We were able to keep possession,” Wildcats coach Brent Doughty said. “When you’re able to do that, you get more shot opportunities. At halftime, we had 14 shots to their two and we probably doubled that in the second half as well. With that, keeping possession the way we did tonight is going to lead to opportunities to score.”

Doughty now has two days to prep his Wildcats for a showdown with the region rival Trojans. According to Doughty, both teams will have a lot riding on Friday’s match.

“Both teams are going to come in with high anticipation,” Doughty said. “We would like to take a third place finish so we don’t have to play April 11. Coffee’s coming in, I think they’re 0-3 in region and I’m sure they don’t want to be the fifth seed so I think it’s going to be a high-energy, high-impact game because it has a lot of region meaning to it.”

Valdosta hosts Coffee in a Region 1-7A matchup at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.