If the South Pointe Stallions were supposed to be the best competition in Region 3-4A for the Catawba Ridge Copperheads girls’ soccer team, then the rest of the region needs to watch out.
A runaway first half for the Copperheads was enough to open Region 3-4A play with a 11-1 win over the Stallions. It is the third double digit win on the season by Catawba Ridge.
Head coach Brandon Schmidt said their offense is actually controlled by their defense.
“It all starts with our defense,” he said.
The Copperheads led 5-1 at the half and never looked back with the help of consistent control of the ball and two goals by Emma Sexton, Kyleen Bents and Maren White during the game. Catawba Ridge improved to 3-0 with the win and 1-0 in region.
Catawba Ridge’s offensive dominance is something that has been noticed in the early going of the season. They opened the season with a 11-0 shutout of Greer and then a 12-0 shutout of Rock Hill.
While winning the region looks like it could be a cake walk, Schmidt said his team needs to keep their focus for the long haul.
“Our goal is not to just win region,” he said. “It is to get a lot further than that.”
Catawba Ridge struck early in the first half as Bents scored about seven minutes into the game. South Pointe was able to get on the board about 10 minutes later to avoid the shutout. It was the first goal allowed this season by the Copperheads.
After the game was tied at 1-1, the Copperheads continued to control possession for the remainder of the first half and rattled off four more goals.
The Copperheads’ Alexa Dubrow got in on the scoring and broke the tie at the 16-minute mark left in the first half. Five minutes later, White added a goal off a penalty kick before Sexton went back-to-back with goals about two minutes apart in the final five minutes of the first half.
Catawba Ridge opened the second half scoring less than two minutes in as Adrienne Cooper added to the Copperheads’ tally. The scoring in the second half was just as strong as it was in the first half with Sarah Sexton scoring, along with Bents and White getting their second goals in the game as well.
The Copperheads’ Jordyn Pieper added a 10th goal for Catawba Ridge with about 9:30 left in the game and Megan Tanis finished out the scoring for the Copperheads with about three minutes left in the game.
Catawba Ridge travels to York next Tuesday for their first road region game of the season.
Boys Soccer
The Catawba Ridge boys’ soccer team beat South Pointe 2-0 on the road to open their Region 3-4A schedule. They improved to 8-0-2 on the season with the win. They are next scheduled to play York at home March 16.
Boys Lacrosse
The Nation Ford boys’ lacrosse team improved to 5-1 on the season with a 16-7 win at Greenville Friday night. They are next scheduled to play March 16 at home against JL Mann.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
