Gwinnett Daily Post

Staff Photo: Jonathan Phillips. Collins Hill's Margaret Bruemmer, left, slide tackles the ball away from North Gwinnett's Taylor Burns (17) on Friday.

SUWANEE -- It seemed like Miriah Dickey missed her best chance.

In a rare final-second soccer scoring opportunity, Dickey over thought a kick into the box and chipped a wide-open shot from just feet away over the cross bar.

"I think I was too focused," Dickey said.

But the sounding buzzer only ended the first half, and Dickey made up for her over-focus twofold in the second half as No. 6 Collins Hill fought past No. 8 North Gwinnett 2-0.

Dickey scored both second-half goals to rebound from her first-half disappointment, her resilience an individual manifestation of the entire Eagles' team.

Just three days prior, the Eagles (7-4, 2-1 Region 7-AAAAA) dropped a 1-0 match with Region 7-AAAAA foe Peachtree Ridge, a loss which rankled every member of the girls team.

"We are pretty pumped," Collins Hill head coach Jeff Tinklepaugh said of Friday's win. "Tuesday was a disappointment. This shows some character."

Just like Dickey.

The fastest player on Collins Hill, Dickey used her speed to score her first goal unassisted. A misplaced pass by North Gwinnett (8-3, 1-1) near midfield gave Dickey a chance at the ball and she bolted in, took it away from the North defenders and then out ran everyone to the net.

"I ran into space, saw my opportunity and took my chance," Dickey said of her first goal.

And she wasn't the only player running.

Both teams maintained a frenetic pace for all 80 minutes, each building up plenty of offensive chances.

"(North) is going to run at you," Tinklepaugh said. "Our goal was to match them. To out work them.

"They had some good looks. They had some good opportunities. We got lucky, too."

The Bulldogs missed a first-half goal by inches when Caroline Gualdoni's shot rolled just past the left post. They followed that chance up with two more near-misses over the next three minutes.

"We've had trouble scoring and we've been working on it," North head coach Mark Karen said. "We just have to get that breakthrough opportunity to show them we can score on a consistent basis."

Dickey's first goal didn't help the Bulldogs. Now trailing with just over 20 minutes left in the match, North turned up its pressure and Collins Hill took advantage of an aggressive defense.

Less than six minutes after her first goal, Dickey took a long assist from Lindsey Leonardo and again used her speed to get behind the North defenders.

The two-goal lead held the rest of the way, giving Collins Hill its first win over North in three seasons.

"It feels nice to beat them," the junior Dickey said. "(This win) shows we have a lot of drive to come back from a big loss."

And it also capped Tinklepaugh's birthday, something his players didn't learn of until after the match. They promptly serenaded him.

"This is the best birthday present I could have asked for," he said.