Another lopsided loss by the Catawba Ridge girls’ lacrosse team looks bad now, but could pay dividends later.
Catawba Ridge fell 21-3 to Ardrey Kell Thursday to drop to 1-4 on the season. The team hasn’t had it easy by any means losing twice to Nation Ford and once to JL Mann, all perennial playoff teams in the state. They have also played Butler, who they got a 9-8 win in over time against, and then Ardrey Kell.
This year’s squad is made up of just three seniors with the rest being underclass players. Out of the 19 players on the roster, only eight are juniors or seniors. The youth on the team is showing against stronger teams, but head coach Pat Gormley said he is hopeful it will pay off down the road.
“You always want to play the best competition,” he said. “It is a learning experience for everyone.”
Gormley said the team has showed promise. That was most obvious in their win over Butler, but they also played JL Mann well in the first half of their 16-6 loss being down by just two goals at the half.
Against Ardrey Kell, Ally Mueller, who is just a sophomore, scored two of Catawba Ridge’s three goals, and Ashley McManemin, a junior, scored the other one. All the goals came in the first 10 minutes of the game, before Ardrey Kell rattled off 10 consecutive goals to take a 14-3 lead at the half. Catawba Ridge played better in the second half, as Ardrey Kell was held to just seven goals.
Despite these lopsided losses, the Copperheads should play competition they are more equal to with games against River Bluff, Christ Church and South Meck all scheduled for next week. Catawba Ridge will travel to River Bluff Monday and then host Christ Church Wednesday.
Nation Ford, Fort Mill boys’ lacrosse wins
The Fort Mill boys’ lacrosse team beat Clover 5-4 to improve to 2-1 on the season also on Thursday night at Bob Jones Stadium. Nation Ford boys also won beating Boiling Springs 14-4 to improve to 2-1 as well. Both teams are 1-0 in Region 3-5A play.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
