By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It was a tough way to end a magical season. Riding a 15-game winning streak and fresh off the first girls soccer district championship in school history, Coach Morgan Hendrickson and her North Adams Lady Devils rolled into a November 1 Division III regional semi-final match up with the only team that had beaten them in the regular season and fellow member of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs, who were also in the midst of a one-loss campaign.
The North Adams-Lynchburg regional match up took place on a brisk November evening on the turf at Zane Trace High School in Chillicothe and likely didn’t go the way that either fan base expected,as no one was expecting 110 minutes of scoreless soccer and a contest decided by penalty kicks.
The two teams battled fiercely through two 20-minute halves, neither team getting a shot past goalies Harlee Brand (NA) or Allie Waits (LC). The first half was pretty even but in the second half the Lady Mustangs turned up the pressure on the offensive end and the most common phrase coming from the microphone of the PA announcer was “Save by Brand”. With a roster of just 15 girls, the Lady Devils gave it every ounce of effort that they had and at the end of regulation, the scoreboard had not changed and stood in a 0-0 deadlock.
If regulation ends in a tie in the postseason, the game goes to a 15-minute overtime where the pressure and intensity increases with every touch. Amazingly, the two teams went scoreless in the first overtime period, which meant a second 15-minute attempt at finding a winner. With the young Lady Devils running out of gas, they managed to dig down deep and battle their way to yet another scoreless overtime period, meaning that this epic contest would be decided by penalty kicks.
The penalty kick segment consists of each team choosing five players to go one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper with the ball placed at the two-yard line. Coach Hendrickosn chose goalkeeper Brand to step out and take the first kick for her team, but the kick was stopped by Lynchburg’s Wait. First up for the Mustangs was Miranda Smith and Brand made a diving stop of the shot attempt.
Next up for North Adams was Hunter Grooms and her shot missed by just inches, banging off the post, and then the Lady Mustangs went up 1-0 in PK’s when Jade Massey finally found the back of the net. The score quickly evened at 1-1 when North Adams’ Kenlie Jones got one past Waits and into the twine. Lynchburg went up 2-1 on a score from McKenna Roades and when the next attempt by the Lady Devils’ Laney Ruckel also rattled off the post, Lynchburg’s Karlie Tipton stepped up with a chance to win it for her team and she did just that, blasting a shot past the lunging Brand and setting off a wild celebration on the Lady Mustangs’ sideline as they won the penalty kick round 3-1 and punched their ticket to the regional title game.
“Tonight didn’t end in our favor, but I can honestly say that I have never been prouder of this team,” said Coach Hendrickson. “80 minutes of regular soccer, then 30 minutes of overtime…110 minutes going toe-to-toe with the best team in the Southeast District and we held them scoreless. Lynchuburg had only been shut out one time this season and that was to a Division I team (Madeira) so the fact that 15 girls kept them scoreless for nearly a game and a half just shows the kind of grit and determination that our girls had walking into this game.”
I told them in practice that this would be the biggest challenge of their season and they would come out of the game exhausted, but just asked them to give me everything that they could, and they gave me so much more! I looked at some of them in the second half and felt sorry for them, wanting to give them a break, but they wouldn’t let me. The first OT was a little rough with our defense being worn out, but Harlee stepped up even more than before, determined to keep her team alive.”
“Nothing prepares you for the exhaustion and stress of going against the number one seed and having to rely on penalty kicks to finish it off,” Hendrickson continued. “Even though the PK’s didn’t go in our favor, it was hard to be disappointed because our girls did something I don’t think any other team in the region could have done. God definitely blessed us throughout this season to have an injury-free and illness-free season, which is what we pray for before every game.”
The regional loss was the final game in the high school careers of North Adams seniors laney Ruckel, Olivia Wright and Luvinnia Rhoads.
“Laney has been the hardest working player I ever encountered,” said Hendrickson. “She has given nothing but her best at all times and has been the backbone of our defense. Olivia is the kindest soul I have ever coached. She has worked hard over the past four years to develop her skills, been a captain for two years, and a leader in helping these girls become amazing young women. She brought so much love and laughter to our group that I don’t know how anyone could ever fill her shoes. Luvi has grown so much as a young woman over the past four years and has been the team’s biggest supporter and cheerleader when we needed it most. She brought such a sense of excitement to the team and her energy will be hard to match in the years to come. I love these three girls and am excited to see how they continue to grow and mature into even more amazing young women.”
‘I’m hoping that the success of this season will bring some new faces to the program for next season. Either way, I am confident in the shoes that the rest of the team will fill. We have worked hard and have such a love for the game, I know it will continue to take them to great places in the future. We will be back and better next season!”
The Lady Devils ended their season with an 18-2 overall record, the most winsin a soccer season in school history.
After sliiping past North Adams, Lynchburg moved on to the regional title game where they defeated Grandview heights 1-0 to earn a trip to the Final Four, where they were scheduled to play a state semi-final game on November 7.