By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE – They headed into the break on a winning note.

Troup High’s soccer teams, who won’t play again until April 10, both took care of visiting Griffin on Friday night at Callaway Stadium.

In the girls’ game, it was Troup getting past Griffin 4-2, while there was no suspense in the boys’ game, with Troup rolling to a 9-0 win.

It was a nice win for the Lady Tigers, whose only previous victory this season came against Cedartown.

Emily Schoonover had a breakout game with three goals, while Shelby Culver had one goal.

Culver and Schoonover also had goals in the earlier 4-2 win over Cedartown, as did Bryce Liechty and Breanny Gray.

“They played really hard tonight and stepped up their game,” Troup coach Candace Morgan said. “We finally worked together as a team and played a full game.”

In Friday’s boys’ game, the Tigers continued to thrive.

Troup (11-4-1), which has qualified for the state playoffs as the number three team from Region 5-AAAA, has won eight of its previous 10 games, and the only loss during that stretch game to LaGrange.

Troup was coming off a 2-2 tie to Central-Phenix City on Wednesday.

“I though they played much better than they did on Wednesday,” Troup coach Micah Alba said. “It’s nice to have that one before the break.”

Helsyn Martinez had the hat trick for Troup with three goals, Alan Vazquez had two goals, and Jimmy Cancino, Neil Patel and Jacob Kimball each had one goal.

Troup’s teams each have four regular-season games remaining, beginning with home games against Spencer on April 10.

For the Tigers, there will still be more soccer to play once the regular season ends.

Troup secured a state-playoff berth by beating Central-Carroll 2-1 on March 24, and it finished with a 4-2 region record to finish third behind Cartersville and LaGrange.

Troup will be on the road for the first round of the state tournament.

OF NOTE: For photos, check out Facebook.com/LDNSports