Lady Devils top Northwest 4-2 in district soccer

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

It was a chilly evening on October 16 as Division V district quarterfinal girls soccer action came to North Adams High School, with the Lady Devils hosting the Northwest Lady Mohawks with a trip to the district semifinals on the line. For the Lady Devils, it had been a tough season as their young squad had only picked up three wins and three ties before launching postseason play.

The main demon that had plagued the Lady Devils all season was their inability to score goals, having been shut out eight times and going 0-0 in all three of their ties, but for one night those woes were temporarily put behind them as they tallied four goals in the first half and made that stand up for a 4-2 win over the Lady Mohawks.

“We have struggled to finish at the goal all season and we hadn’t even scored for several games,” said North Adams head coach Morgan Hendrickson after the Northwest game. “Our defense has been pretty sound lately, but wasn’t quite as sound today but overall I’d say we were looking to score more than we have been in past games.”

Things didn’t look promising early for the home team as Northwest got one past North Adams goalie Bella Gray less than three minutes into the first half. That lead for the visitors lasted a whole of three minutes as the Lady Devils tied it up on a goal from freshman Jerzi Tong, as she found a loose ball in the box after a throw-in and wisely found the back of the net.

What turned out to be the game-winning goal came less than two minutes later when North Adams senior Raylan Eldridge controlled the ball down the left side and fired a bullet from her left foot that went right through the grasp of the Northwest keeper and snuck into the corner of the net for a 2-1 Lady Devils’ advantage.

The North Adams offense kept constant pressure on the Northwest goal and with 19:53 left in the first half, junior Kensley Cornette found the net from about 20 yards away to give her team a 3-1 lead.

The final goal of the first half for the Lady Devils came on one of the most athletic plays that you could ever see in a girls soccer game. As a ball was about to go out of bounds on the sideline, the speedy Eldridge came from seemingly out of nowhere to keep it inbounds, then twisted her body to an angle where she could center the ball and that assumed centering pass instead ended up behind the Northwest goalie to give the Lady Devils a 4-1 advantage.

“Raylan gives 120% every minute she is on the field,” said Coach Hendrickson. “If I could replicate that times 30, I would. She is scrappy and so fast and she is not going to give up on a play.”

The remainder of the first half was played on the North Adams end but the home team couldn’t manage any more scores and the home side took that three-goal lead into the halftime break. The only score of the second half came from the Lady Mohawks as the North Adams defense stepped up and protected their team’s lead and when the final whistle sounded, the Lady Devils had moved on to the district semis with the 4-2 win.

Coach Hendrickson and her troops were back in tourney action on Tuesday, October 22 on the turf at Waverly’s Raidiger Field. North Adams faced a familiar foe in the nightcap of a doubleheader, battling the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs, a team they lost to 5-0 back on September 14. Those two teams seem to cross paths in every postseason and this time there will be another district championship berth at stake.

“The last time we played Lynchburg, we played them here at home and we only had 11 players available and sometimes even played with 10,” said Hendrickson. “Hopefully we come ready to play and can get some things done of offense and defense.”

The Defender will be covering that contest and look for a full report in the October 30 edition.