Deflected free kick gives top-seeded Holy Innocents’ girls soccer championship

Top-seeded Holy Innocents’ avenged a regular-season loss to No. 2 seed Wesleyan and claimed its second state title in six seasons with a 1-0 victory in the GHSA Class 3A-A Private girls soccer championship game Tuesday at St. Pius X High School in Atlanta.

Holy Innocents’ scored the game’s only goal less than five minutes into the second half when a free kick by the Golden Bears’ Paige Jacquin found the net after deflecting off a Wesleyan player in a logjam in front of the net. Wesleyan applied pressure the rest of the way, particularly in the final 15 minutes, but could not come up with an answer against Golden Bears goalkeeper Chelsea Pacheco.

The championship was the third for Holy Innocents’ (17-4), which previously won titles in 2006 and 2021. Wesleyan also was seeking its third title, having won in 2017 and 2019. The Wolves finished 19-2, their only other loss coming against Class 4A finalist Marist in March.

Wesleyan won the regular-season meeting between the teams 2-1 in overtime a month ago. It was one of four losses for Holy Innocents’, which outscored its opponents 153-14 for the season.

“I think the key was being defensively sound and communicating well,” Holy Innocents’ coach Clayton Schmitt said of the rematch. “In moments of transition, we were able to identify and prevent their dynamic players from getting good chances. It was a little dicey to start the game, but we settled into it really well.”

Wesleyan’s best scoring opportunities came in the first half. Three times, Mary Mac Brown took long passes on the run deep against the Holy Innocents’ defense, but Pacheco came up with a save each time. On the second one, the rebound went right back to Brown on the left side of the goal, but her shot hit the goalpost on the right.

“Chelsea’s a freshman, and she kept us in it early on when their two forwards kept getting in on us,” Schmitt said. “Without some of those saves she made, it would have been a very different story.”