Bowling Green sophomore Whitaker Buchanan did most of the heavy lifting with two first-half goals Thursday before the Lady Purples had to stem a furious Greenwood rally to hold on for a 3-2 victory in the District 14 girls soccer tournament championship at Bowling Green Junior High.

Behind Whitaker’s two first-half strikes and another early second-half goal by junior Emma Kate Widener, Bowling Green (16-3-2) built a formidable three-goal lead with 35 minutes to play.

Another district tournament championship for the Lady Purples seemed a foregone conclusion by then, but Greenwood (13-2-3) dominated possession the rest of the way by amping up the pressure and keeping the ball on Bowling Green’s side of the field.

“Tonight, first half I thought we played really well,” Bowling Green coach Lisa Correa said. “Second half, it looked like we got a little out of shape and maybe a little tired, trying to work too hard instead of letting the ball do the work. That’s a good team and they’re going to keep coming at you, but I was proud of the way the girls battled until the end to get the win.”

Greenwood junior midfielder Anna Haddock answered Widener’s goal – which came on a deflection off a direct kick – with Greenwood’s first goal about two minutes later. Haddock, an Auburn University commit, gathered in a through ball from teammate Kylie Tisdale and slipped her defender. Haddock snapped of a quick shot that got past Lady Purples freshman goalkeeper Caroline Miller to cut the deficit to 3-1.

That goal seemed to energize the Lady Gators, who mounted an all-out push against Bowling Green’s defense. Greenwood outshot the Lady Purples 13-2 in the second half after getting outshot 6-4 in the first 40 minutes.

“That second half, we played the game that we wanted to play the whole time,” Greenwood coach Zach Salchli said. “The first half we came out a little slow, a little hesitant.

“It was just a mindset adjustment. We got everybody focused at halftime and kind of got them back into a place where we wanted to play our game. I thought the first half we got away from playing our game. We were starting to play a lot of balls long and trying to play over the top. That’s not really how we play and that’s not what makes us successful.”

Bowling Green maximized its scoring opportunities, especially in the first half.

Buchanan got her first goal in opportunistic fashion, swooping into the penalty box to tap a shot past Lady Gators junior goalkeeper Elizabeth DeMarse just nine minutes into the game.

Buchanan struck again with 5:21 to go in the first half when she collected a perfect through ball from teammate Ella Farley for an open run at the goal. DeMarse had no option but to charge, and Buchanan punched a shot past her into the net to double Bowling Green’s lead.

Widener’s goal added to the margin, then Greenwood mounted its comeback.

Haddock got her second goal on a direct kick by somehow managing to thread a shot past the Lady Purples’ wall and past Miller into the bottom corner with 6:06 to play.

“I was hopeful that we could come back and we were close to it,” Haddock said. “We had a lot of chances in the second half.”

The Lady Gators managed a few more attempts after, but Miller stood up to the challenge in the box. Despite leaving briefly with an injury in the first half, Miller finished with nine saves – six in the second half.

“She’s really stepped into the role,” Correa said of Miller. “We brought her along perfect I thought, where she wasn’t thrown into the fire super early. She kind of worked her way in there until she felt comfortable and confident and she has done just a great job for us in the goal.”

Whitaker Buchanan was named the District 14 tournament’s Most Valuable Player, and was joined on the all-tournament team be the Lady Purples’ Caroline Miller, Emma Wilgruber and Caroline Buchanan, Greenwood’s Anna Haddock, Liz Carter and Maddy McCorkle, South Warren’s Laura Hasani and Sofia Hasani, Warren Central’s Beatrice Malenga and Eriona Shabani, and Warren East’s Hailey Hymer.

Both Bowling Green and Greenwood advance to next week’s Region 4 tournament. Pairings have not been made yet.{&end}