Head coach Joe Dority wanted to ensure his Catawba Ridge girls’ soccer team controlled their emotions and focused on the task at hand on the evening of April 8 in a senior night matchup against Region 3-5A opponent Northwestern High School.
Mission accomplished.
Sophomore Brooks Dority and senior Phoebe Serkin both scored two goals each, while freshman Alexi Vossinas, and seniors McKenna Randall and Keelyn Feneis tallied goals of their own as the Lady Copperheads, now 13-4 and 6-2 in region, rolled past the visiting Lady Trojans in a one-sided 7-0 victory that keeps Catawba Ridge in the thick of the region fight.
Following the games, Catawba Ridge and Clover are still tied for second place behind current region leader Nation Ford, who is 13-2-1 overall and 7-0 in the region. The Blue Eagles defeated Fort Mill 5-0 at home on April 8. Nation Ford next hosts Indian Land on Friday, April 11.
But in Fort Mill, Joe Dority praised his five seniors, including Keelyn Feneis, Piper Halberg, Eden Murdock, Randall, and Serkin, who were all honored before the game.
“They were able to enjoy the pageantry and celebrate our seniors,” Dority said. “Then they can just put that in the back of their mind… they scored their goals and had some fun. It was nice to see Phoebe get her goal, Keelyn and McKenna get their goals, and all around, the girls supported each other.”
Catawba Ridge got off to a hot start from the beginning.
Brooks Dority opened the scoring in just the fifth minute, tapping home a cross from the right wing about eight yards out and beating Northwestern goalkeeper Marina Rangel.
The Copperheads were in fine form, tallying at least six shots on goal in the opening 10 minutes.
Serkin nearly doubled Catawba Ridge’s advantage with a shot from the top of the penalty box, but Rangel blocked the low drive with an acrobatic kick-save.
Still, Dority proved her danger. She drove into the six-yard box on a 30th-minute Catawba Ridge corner and powered a header past Rangel and into the net for a 2-0 lead.
Just three minutes later, Serkin earned her spot on the scoresheet, finishing a shot from 15 yards out.
Vossinas capped the end of the first half with a goal of her own, dribbling from the end line into the box and hitting a hard shot past Rangel to give the Copperheads a 4-0 lead just seconds before the referee blew the whistle for halftime.
The hosts continued to push for more goals after the break.
Feneis scored Catawba Ridge’s fifth goal of the night in the 52nd minute. Her original shot caromed off the far post, landing at a teammate. That shot was blocked by Rangel, but the parry landed back at Feneis, who couldn’t miss from 10 yards out.
Serkin picked up her second goal of the night in the 67th minute. The senior showed quick feet at the top of the Trojans’ box to beat a defender, then placed a shot into the top corner of the Northwestern goal to give Catawba Ridge a 6-0 lead.
Randall capped the scoring in the 72nd minute, with her long-range effort beating Rangel at the far post.
Dority currently leads the Lady Copperheads with 10 goals so far this year, while Serkin has eight.
Joe Dority said he wants to make sure his team is peaking at the right time as the Copperheads focus in on the postseason. Catawba Ridge reached the Class 4A quarterfinals last year before falling 3-1 to eventual champion Eastside.
Dority said he wants his team to continue fighting for each other, maintaining their competitive edge, and pouring confidence into one another.
“We’re probably 75/80 percent of where we need to be,” he said. “We’re tracking that, and we’re closing the season out to prepare for the playoffs.”
Catawba Ridge has four more region contests left to play. Nation Ford will play Catawba Ridge at The Pit on April 17, before hosting Clover April 29.
Catawba Ridge next plays at Indian Land on April 15.
April 8 Roundup
The Nation Ford boys’ tennis team beat Catawba Ridge 6-0. Winning for the Falcons were Colt Mohler 6-0, 6-0; Davis Glasco 6-0, 6-1; Owen McCullough 6-3, 6-1; Zach Robinson 6-0, 6-0; Jacob Brancato 6-0, 6-0; and in doubles Shanmith Kamireddy and Jaideep Tatineni 6-1, 6-1.
The Nation Ford boys’ golf team beat Catawba Ridge 154-175. Scores for Nation Ford were – Carter Smith 37, Justin Wosje 39, Harrison LaPointe 39, and Oliver LaPointe 39. Scores for Catawba Ridge were – Niam Sethi 42, Bray Vining 44, Carter Mitten 44, and Christian Cook 45.
The Catawba Ridge baseball team beat Nation Ford 5-0 in game one of their three game series. Catawba Ridge scored four runs in the first inning to set the pace for the win. Britton Nash went 2-4 with four RBIs in the win. Catawba Ridge is now 9-6-1 overall with Nation Ford dropping to 8-6 overall.
Fort Mill baseball beat Lancaster in non-region action 21-2 in five innings with two eight run innings to improve to 13-3 overall. Fort Mill had six players with two hits each.
