Registering 11 shots, West Forsyth’s girls kept the heat on Forsyth Central for most of Friday night.

With the help of a pair of scores from Allie Sweeney, the Lady Wolverines built a three-goal lead and keeper Hannah Garcia did the rest, preserving a 3-1 win against the Lady Bulldogs in West’s home opener.

“This is a big rivalry for us and the girls did a great job on the field, keeping the ball on the ground and passing,” West coach Peter Valentino said. 

The Lady Wolverines’ opening goal in the 14th minute was a mixture of good fortune and skill. Collecting a Danielle Holder pass just outside the box, Aly Laughlin launched a powerful shot that evaded diving goalkeeper Hanan Zaki and dipped into the bottom corner.

After controlling the tempo in the minutes prior to West’s goal, Central (3-2 overall, 2-0 Region 6-AAAA) was under steady pressure from that point on. Amanda Keith came close to doubling West’s lead, sending an angled drive just wide with the goalkeeper beaten. As the half drew nearer, the Wolverines continued to attack, with Laughlin clipping the roof of the net from long distance.

Keeping possession further paid off for West (2-0-1) after 36 minutes. A high ball from Laughlin into the box soared over Central’s defense, with Sweeney perfectly positioned to gather the bouncing ball and smash in an angled drive for a 2-0 lead.

The second half started at a frantic pace, with few clear-cut chances until Sweeney intervened in the 48th minute. Her second goal was similar to her first, as she sent a looping pass — this time from Karson Gleason — to the left of Zaki to increase the lead to 3-0.

Central struck back in the 58th minute when Rachael Paige was on-hand to tap in Tori Hood’s low cross, which evaded a host of Wolverine defenders.

Paige came close to taking advantage of more confusion in the Wolverines box 10 minutes later, sending in a cross that went over Garcia’s head, bounced off the line and away from goal.

Garcia, however, made a string of saves in the closing minutes, first on a kick from Holly Hildebrant and then one from Hood, who were both clean through on goal.

“[The opening goal] shifted the momentum to us and dictated the rest of the game,” said Valentino. “They came out pretty hard in the second half and we were able to survive their pushes … and our goalkeeper came up big again.”

West is next in action Tuesday night at home against Chestatee, while Central travels to Tucker.