With teammates Tatum Grooms (12) and Emmy Holt (8) on t5heir way to assist, North Adams goalkeeper Harlee Brand makes a diving stop of a Fayetteville rush in action from the August 5 SHAC Preview at Lynchburg. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

With teammates Tatum Grooms (12) and Emmy Holt (8) on t5heir way to assist, North Adams goalkeeper Harlee Brand makes a diving stop of a Fayetteville rush in action from the August 5 SHAC Preview at Lynchburg. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>North Adams’ Gage White (12) tries to break free from the grasp of a Fayetteville defender as the Devils posted a 2-0 SHAC Preview win over the Rockets. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

North Adams’ Gage White (12) tries to break free from the grasp of a Fayetteville defender as the Devils posted a 2-0 SHAC Preview win over the Rockets. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

High school fall sports are again upon us and for local soccer fans, the unofficial beginning came on Saturday, August 5 as Lynchburg High School played host to the 2023 Girls/Boys Soccer Preview. Kicking off at 9 a.m., the preview featured seven match ups, consisting of just one 40-minute half of soccer.

The day began with the Peebles boys knocking off West Union 3-1 and continued with the Lynchburg girls topping Ripley 3-0. The Lynchburg boys followed that up with a 1-0 win over Ripley, followed by the Fairfield and Eastern girls playing to a 0-0 draw. The fifth match up of the day saw the Fairfield boys roll past Eastern Brown 6-1.

The 12:45 contest saw the Fayetteville Lady Rockets battling the North Adams Lady Devils, a team which advanced to the Division III Sweet 16 last fall under the directions of coaches Morgan Hendrickson and David Shipley. The Lady Devils have had some roster turnover and have some new faces, but still return a solid core, led by senior keeper Harlee Brand along with seniors Kenlie Jones and Hunter grooms, plus junior Tatum Grooms and sophomore Emmy Holt.

In Saturday’s action, the Lady Rockets struck early and got one past Brand from close range in the first two minutes, and that turned out to be the only score of the half as the North Adams offense struggled and never got any really good shots on goal.

The final match up of the preview saw a very talented North Adams boys squad, coached by Kirk Bunn and Duncan Hesler, face off with the Fayetteville Rockets. The Devils controlled most of the pace of play with first-year goalkeeper Easton Daulton keeping the Rockets off the board. In the meantime , North Adams got goals from Gage White and Hunter Brown to post a 2-0 win in the 40 minutes of physical action.