The 2012 soccer season keeps getting better and better for the Dawson County High School Lady Tigers.

The team jumped from seventh to fourth in the most recent State rankings for Class AA schools.

But now is not the time go get complacent, according to head coach Jed Lacey, whose Lady Tigers are ranked for the first time.

We are putting together one heck of a season and we need to keep the hammer down, said Lacey.

Last week Dawson County took out two more Region foes to improve to a 9-2 record overall and 3-0 in Region 8-AA North.

Playing at Rabun County, Dawson broke open a scoreless game midway through the first half when freshman Taylor Bennett scored her fourth goal of the season.

Seven minutes later, freshman McKay Shively scored her 11th goal of the season with an assist by Brooke Shively.

Junior Brittany Duffy made it a 3-0 Lady Tigers lead followed by Jade Perrys goal with 13:59 remaining until intermission (with an assist by Carissa Perez) to send Dawson to a 4-0 win.

Lacey said that every year, the team experiences a similar game after returning from the Jekyll Island Tournament.

We play real physical games when we go south and the trip is so fun, Lacey said, we have to get our minds right and get back to the business at hand, which is to get to State and make a deep run.

Two days later Dawson returned home to host East Hall, as the offense exploded for a 9-0 victory.

We really pushed the net and overwhelmed them right from the start, Lacey said.

Shively scored her 12th and 13th goals of season, pulling her to within one goal of the individual school record.

Sophomore Brooke Duffy scored three goals to notch her first hat-trick of her high school career.

Perez added a pair of goals, while Perry and sophomore Riley Cox tallied single goals for Dawson.

Not to be outdone, goalkeepers Keena Seitz and Anela Melton combined to break the school record for shutouts in a season with nine.

After a week off for Spring Break, the Lady Tigers will host Pickens County on Wednesday, April 11.