Pre-game senior night festivities got the Catawba Ridge boys soccer team in the right frame of mind to take care of business as they put away the York Cougars without a problem Friday night at the Pit.
From walk-up songs to smoke machines to fireworks, the Copperheads were ready to play as they controlled the game for an easy 9-0 win.
Catawba Ridge improved to 14-2-1 overall and 7-0 in Region 3-4A with the win on a night which saw the return of senior Joshua White, who has missed the entire season thus far with an injury.
White wasted no time scoring as he found the back of the net less than two minutes into the game to give the Copperheads a lead they would never relinquish. Fellow senior James Abramo scored about three minutes later to make it 2-0, and Caden Tull scored at the 15th minute mark in the game.
With less than five minutes left in the first half Josh Zawlocki scored two goals to give Catawba Ridge a 5-0 lead going to the locker room.
Catawba Ridge controlled the entire game as York only got two shots on goal, both of which came in the second half.
Tull scored back-to-back goals at the 13th and 15th minutes in the second half to give him a hat trick.
With about 10 minutes left in the game Stewart Sandvoss scored on a header off a corner kick to make it 8-0 and then with less than two minutes left in the game Micah Collins finished things off scoring the Copperheads’ ninth goal of the game.
Catawba Ridge has 11 seniors on this year’s team and it is the first time that several of the players have played all four years for the team, since the school is in just its fourth year of existence.
“We have a lot of seniors,” said Copperheads’ head coach Phillip McCarter. “For us this is a key year. Coming into the season, we have three guys up top and we knew it was going to be special.”
The Copperheads are sitting pretty in the region standings if they can win two of their next three matches, they can lock up the region title. They next take on Lancaster at home April 11 after spring break.
March 31 Roundup
Catawba Ridge
The Catawba Ridge baseball team locked up a spot in the Region 3-4A playoffs with a sweep of Lancaster Friday. The Copperheads won 11-1 and improved to 12-3 overall and 9-0 in region play. Jake McCoy tossed a one hitter as he struck out 14 batters. McCoy also paced the offense with a home run and Britton Nash went 2-2 with four RBIs in the win.
The Catawba Ridge softball team won 10-2 over the York Cougars on the road and improved to 15-3 overall and 7-0 in region play.
The Catawba Ridge girls’ lacrosse team fell in overtime on the road to AC Flora 10-9 to even their record to 6-6 overall on the season.
Nation Ford
The Nation Ford girls’ lacrosse team lost their last regular season game falling 17-13 to South Meck dropping them to 6-8 overall on the season.
Fort Mill
The Fort Mill softball team fell to Union County on the road 11-7 dropping them to 9-4 overall on the season. Fort Mill made five errors in the loss. Vicki Lott went 1-3 with a home run and three RBIs.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
