Lady Devils eliminate West Union 8-0 –
By Mark Carpenter –
Photo by Patrice Yezzi England –
Another match up of two Adams County soccer teams took place on October 17 at North Adams High School as the Lady Devils entertained the West Union Lady Dragons with a Division III sectional championship on the line. The Lady Devils came in as heavy favorites with their 12-3 record, but it had also been a successful regular season for the West Union girls, who had set a school-high for wins and were looking to pull of a major upset.
Unfortunately for the Lady Dragons, and many other teams in the Southeast District, the Lady Devils have a weapon that few teams can match in senior Lakyn Hupp, who all season has rewritten the North Adams soccer record books and continued to add to her impressive list of accomplishments on Tuesday night, as she scored six goals, another school record, in leading North Adams to an 8-0 win and a third consecutive sectional championship.
‘Lakyn has just assaulted the record books this season,” said North Adams head coach Dave D’Avignon. “For a program that is now over 20 years old, she has set the record for most goals in a game (6), most goals in a season (41), and most goals in a career (101). She also holds the record for most points scored in a game (12), most points in a season (84), and most points in a career (216).
“She is just something else. She is one of those players who comes along every now and then who just has the knack for scoring. She is fast, quick, and possesses a sixth sense for reading shooting angles. She’s a left-footer, ut can shoot equally well with either foot. But even more important, she’s one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. It has been a pleasure coaching her for four years.”
As far as Tuesday’s sectional final, the Lady Devils took care of business early. Getting an unassisted goal from freshman Braylie Jones less than four minutes into the game. Nine minutes later, Jones got the assist on Hupp’s first goal of the night to put the home team up 2-0.
With 20:25 left in the first half, it was Hupp again when a shot by Taylor Hesler was blocked into the crossbar by West Union keeper Caitlyn Cooper. The deflection went right to Hupp who knocked it home for the 3-0 lead. Four minutes later, Hupp made it the hat trick off another assist from Jones and with 1:30 left in the first half, the senior attacker scored again on a breakaway down the left side. The Lady Devils scored again at the first half buzzer when Karissa Buttelwerth found the back of the net off an assist by Brianna Robinson. The Buttelwerth goal made it 6-0 at the break.
Hupp reached another milestone with 21:48 left in the game, scoring her 100th career goal off a throw-in from Jones and then for good measure added number 101 with 14:43 to play, this time taking a throw-in from Breanna Piatt and dribbling down for the score that made the final score 8-0 and sent the North Adams girls off to the district tournament.
The Lady Devils will be off to Waverly High School and a third consecutive appearance in the district tournament, matching up on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. with the Minford Lady Falcons. A win there sends North Adams to the Oct. 28 Division III district championship game.