ROSWELL — Haylee Dornan and Caroline Coggin might just be spoiled at this point.
After winning the first-ever GHSA girls flag football state championship, and being featured in a Super Bowl advertisement, the duo has a chance to win their second state championship this season, this time in soccer.
The opportunity comes after West Forsyth’s girls soccer team won their Final Four match 2-0 against Roswell on Monday to advance to the Class 7A state championship.
“I used [Coggin and Dornan] in our practice on Sunday,” West head coach Jason Galt said. “I told the team that there are two girls that have already gone through this and it’s pretty cool. Some coaches go their whole high school careers without ever coaching a state championship, so don’t take it for granted.”
Dornan, the quarterback of the football team and the goalie in soccer, described the feeling of playing in the state championship as “unbelievable” and would love nothing more than to accomplish that again with her soccer team.
“Caroline and I have been playing with each other for, like, nine years,” Dornan said “To get that feeling of winning again … that’s not really the kind of thing you get to twice.”
Coggin, the slot wide receiver for the football team and midfielder in soccer, added that she knew from tryouts this season the West team would be special, and is looking forward to her chance for a second state ring.
“You just have to treat [the championship] like any other game,” Coggin said. “Come in with a level head and play your game with just higher stakes.”
After winning their first three playoff games with a combined score of 17-2, Galt said it took his team some adjusting to not dominating throughout the entire game on Monday night.
“That’s the way soccer is supposed to be played,” Galt said. “Roswell had a great gameplan tonight and we got frustrated. When I talked to them at halftime, I said ‘Hey girls, we’re up 1-0.’ They’re just so used to being up big and they want to be up big. It’s something new for us.”
The game was kept scoreless until the referee called Roswell defender for a handball inside the goalie box with 5:50 left in the first half. Tori DellaPeruta sank it for her 52nd goal of the season, giving West the 1-0 lead into halftime.
West continued to get shots off but, none fell until Emma Armstrong sent a pass over the Roswell line of defenders right into DellaPeruta’s path toward the goal for her 53rd of the season, sending West to the state championship.
“I’ve been coaching football and girls soccer for 25 years,” Galt said. “I’ve come close but never won a state championship. I’m just looking forward to getting an opportunity. I’m lucky.”
West will have a rematch against Region 6-7A opponent Lambert in the state championship. Their last game ended 0-0 in regulation and overtime and was decided in seven penalty kicks.
“Our last match, I think we were too emotional before the game,” Galt said. “Once again, that’s a learning experience. Going into this, my approach will just be we’ve played this game before. It’s not about revenge or a cross-town rival, but game planning for a really good team.”
Galt was unsure of when the championship would be. The four host sites for Thursday and Friday’s state championships are Duluth, Powder Springs, Macon and Savannah.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
