By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It was a rematch of last year’s Division III girls soccer regional semifinal when the North Adams Lady Devils faced off with the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs on October 26 on the beautiful turf at Lucasville Valley High School. Last year’s game was an absolute thriller, with the Lady Mustangs pulling out a victory on penalty kicks and the Lynchburg squad came into last week’s match up looking to secure their fifth consecutive district championship.
In the regular season, the Lady Mustangs had slipped by North Adams 1-0 on their way to another Southern Hills Athletic Conference title and this district final battle was expected to be much of the same, which it was as the two teams squared off in their typical defensive struggle. Any team who gets behind the Lady Mustangs has their work cut out for them and the Lady Devils experienced that first hand.
Lynchburg got all the goals they needed just over three minutes into the game on a goal by senior Aubrey Slack and made that stand us they clinched the district crown with an eventual 2-0 victory, the second goal also coming from Slack with 8:08 left in the first half.
“We knew that coming into this game we would have to play our very best,” said North Adams head coach Morgan Hendrickson. “Lynchburg is always an amazing team, so we had to give them our absolute best. When they scored in the first four minutes, I just wanted to make sure that we knew that we had to keep fighting or it could get ugly quick. They chose to step up and keep fighting. We got a lot more offensive looks on them than we did the first time we played them. We just couldn’t get past their solid defense. When they scored another one it was like a shot to the heart, but we had to keep pressing because crazier things have happened.”
The Lady Devils close their season at 11-7-1, finishing 5-2 in conference play. The team was led in sscoring by senior Kenlie Jones who scored 27 goals, with senior Hunter Grooms adding 10. Jones also led the team with 12 assists. Senior keeper Harlee Brand was again a stalwart between the pipes, tossing up seven shutouts to give her the all-time school record,
“This season has had its struggles,” said Hendrickson. “Looking at the roster we were essentially stronger than we were last year simply due to numbers and experience, but there were some areas that we struggled in. The main struggle this season was just finding the back of the net. Overall, this season was one to be proud of. We made a strong tournament run and fought hard until the bitter end. This group of girls were some of the best I have coached. I had a lot of new faces this year and that was absolutely great to have, I’m looking forward to the future.”
The district final loss marked the end of the high school careers for North Adams seniors Madi Hesler, Kenlie Jones, Hunter Grooms, Jaida Mason and Harlee Brand.
“This senior group, I honestly can’t say enough good things about them,” said Coach Hendrickson. “They are an extremely talented group. I mean you’ve got power and skill in all five of them, they have been pillars in our program for four years now. There are some big shoes to fill. Madi with her crazy energy and speed, Hunter with her pure talent with the ball and her incredible grit, Jaida with her amazing defensive skills that I have relied on desperately, Kenlie with her scoring ability and the way she can finesse with the ball, and then Harlee with her mind-blowing goalie skills. There is simply no way to replace the talent and personality we have in these seniors, but looking at the years to come I know that what these seniors have done for this program will have a lasting impact. They’ve been a part of some monumental moments in this program and I’m forever thankful to have been able to coach them. The hardest part and the biggest blessing of every season is saying goodbye to the seniors that we have watched grow from girls into amazing young women.”