The victory was huge for the Lady Wildcats because it opened their region play successfully and followed the school's 4-1 loss to Cherokee High last Friday night, its first setback of the season.
"We were very fortunate," Kyle Morgan, Woodland head coach, said. "They kind of gave us a couple of gifts I felt like, but the good thing is we put ourselves in position to receive those own goals by being aggressive and keeping the ball in the areas where they are dangerous."
Losing by two own goals may have made the loss tougher, but head coach Phil Phillips said Cass lost to a good team that helped it identify a key area to improve, finishing its plays.
"I take nothing away from Kyle," Cass coach Phil Phillips said. "They've got a good team. We knew it was going to be a good game. We've got a good team, but we've got a lot of work to do. We've got a good future."
Woodland got its first own goal in the 22nd minute after a corner kick by Destiny Wood struck a Lady Colonel about five yards outside the goal and careened into the net.
Throughout the first half, the Lady Wildcat had proven pesky offensively, repeatedly working down for shots in and about the box. Wood had fired a shot in the 19th minute that was handled by the Cass goalie.
That 1-0 score held up until the break.
In the second half, Woodland's Stephanie Hick then helped record the team's second goal with a throw that bounced off a Cass player and then its goalie before finding net in the game's 56nd minute.
Morgan said the aggressive play of the Lady Wildcats sealed the win.
"They were gifts given to us," he said, "however I think we earned them by putting the ball in a position where it is dangerous."
The two goals notwithstanding, the teams appeared evenly matched with Woodland providing the most offense in the first half while Cass appeared to have an offensive upper hand in the second half.
"Both teams were off to a good start in non-region play," Morgan said. "This being both teams' first region game and it being a local rivalry, I think it was a pretty hard-played game."
Phillips took the loss in stride with an eye toward it helping the Lady Colonels improve.
"We made a few adjustments and it gave us more chances on goal in the second half."
He said some of those chances should have ended with the ball in the net.
"We played more of our game in the second half," he said. "That's what we try to do. We try to go down and cross and try to finish. We've just got to work on finishing."
Woodland (5-1, 1-0 in 7-AAAA) next plays Friday, when it visits South Forsyth. The two square off at 6 p.m.
Cass (3-2, 0-1 in its region) returns to the playing field Friday when it hosts Forsyth Central. The two meet at 6 p.m.