If the second match between the two teams was anything like the first, one expected a high scoring, close contest.
Fort Mill won the first match 14-12 and while it was close, the second match was not as high scoring, the Jackets got the season sweep with an 8-7 over the Catawba Ridge Copperheads on April 3.
Fort Mill’s Rylee Raiter scored the match winner with 2:04 left to give the Jackets the win. The Copperheads had one more shot to tie the match, but Jackets goalkeeper Grace Boyd made the stop.
“Leadership is coming together,” said Fort Mill head coach Kirsten Terry. “We had some big saves from our goalie.”
Fort Mill won the opening face-off and Molly Bennett scored 32 seconds into play.
Catawba Ridge came right back, winning the next face off and getting a goal from Emma Fiaschetti.
The match wasn’t tied long as Mallory Hitch grabbed a goal to give Fort Mill the lead again with about eight minutes left to play in the first quarter.
Paige Conroy tied the match at two, before Carleigh Conroy gave the Copperheads a 3-2 lead. That lead was short lived as Hitch scored her second goal of the quarter tying it at 3-3 before the end of the first quarter.
Clare Roland opened the second quarter with a goal for Fort Mill giving them the lead 55 seconds into play.
Catawba Ridge was a little more patient on offense in the quarter and waited for open space to get shots. Lydia McCarter scored at the 7:17 mark to tie the match once again. Paige Conroy gave the Copperheads the lead about three minutes later off a Fort Mill turnover.
Carleigh Conroy then extended the Copperheads lead less than a minute later on another Jackets turnover.
Fort Mill’s CeCe Shia cut into the Copperheads lead with a goal less than a minute before halftime.
The Jackets started the second half more patient after a turnover by Catawba Ridge on their first possession of the third quarter.
Despite the patience, the Jackets struggled with 50-50 balls and a turnover led to a Carleigh Conroy hat trick with her third goal of the match with a little more than five minutes left in the quarter. That goal was the only one of the quarter between the two teams as Catawba Ridge went to the fourth quarter with a 7-5 lead.
Shia scored about 65 seconds into the fourth quarter for the Jackets, her second goal in the match.
Neither team seemed to grab much momentum in the final quarter as they struggled to hang onto the ball. However, Fort Mill did hold onto possession more often and made it count scoring three unanswered goals in the quarter.
With about five minutes remaining in regulation, Bennett found a path for the Jackets to score her second goal of the match and tie things at 7-7.
Catawba Ridge is still looking for a Region 3-5A win, but head coach Pat Gormley said he felt like his team played well. The Copperheads dropped to 7-5 overall and 0-3 in the region.
“I think we see we can play with the best teams around,” he said.
Fort Mill improves to 4-6 with the win, but more importantly 3-0 in Region 3-5A.
April 3 Roundup
The Nation Ford girls’ lacrosse team beat Clover 11-8 to improve to 3-8 overall and 2-1 in Region 3-5A.
The Nation Ford boys’ lacrosse team lost to Clover 12-9 to drop to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in Region 3-5A.
The Fort Mill boys’ tennis team beat Rock Hill 5-1 to improve to 7-1 on the season. Winning for Fort Mill was Ethan Franklin 6-4, 6-3; Arnav Meshram 6-3, 7-6 (7-2); Patrick Wright 6-4, 6-3; Xander Pak 6-4, 7-5; and Liam Marriott and Lucas Coelho in doubles 6-0, 6-1.
The Nation Ford boys’ tennis team beat Indian Land 6-0 to improve to 6-0 on the season in Region 3-5A. Winning for the Falcons was Colt Mohler 6-0, 6-1; Davis Glasco 6-0, 6-2; Owen McCullough 6-2, 6-0; Zach Robinson 6-1, 6-1; Jacob Brancato 6-1, 6-0; and Shanmith Kamireddy and Jaideep Tatineni 6-0, 6-0 in doubles.
The Nation Ford softball team beat Northwestern 11-1 as they improved to 4-3 in Region 3-5A and 10-6 overall.
The Fort Mill softball team fell to Clover 5-1 and are now 3-6 on the season and 2-4 in Region 3-5A.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
