A crunch for possession included North Adams Lady Devils Ava Pemberton (center) and Paytton Shaver (right) in this action from an August 15 5-0 loss to Hillsboro. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Girls fall 5-0, Boys take 4-2 win
North Adams senior captain Kensley Cornette pushes the ball forward during the Lady Devils’ season-opening loss to Hillsboro. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Soccer can be a high-flying sport, seen here as North Adams sophomore Jaxon Baldwin (right) goes airborne to elude a crashing Hillsboro opponent. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Focus and keep your eye on the ball and good things will happen. It did for North Adams senior Tristan Young, who scored two second half goals as the Devils downed Hillsboro 4-2 in their season-opener. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
It’s a high leg kick for North Adams’ Jayce Durbin in this action shot from the August 15 match up with Hillsboro. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The 2025 girls and boys soccer season kicked off on a very warm and muggy Friday, August 15 in Seaman as the North Adams squads played host to the Hillsboro Indians in non-conference openers for both schools. Temperatures in the 90’s may have kept the fans in a sweat but it didn’t seem to deter the athletes on the pitch as they battled through two contests.
The North Adams girls squad, coached gain by Morgan Hendrickson, is coming off a tough 2024 season where they finished 4-10-3 and were looking to get the 2025 campaign off to a quick start, but the visiting Lady Indians had other ideas. The game began with most of the action on the North Adams offensive end but the first time that Hillsboro managed to get the ball past midfield and into their end, it resulted in a goal and a 1-0 lead for the visitors.
With 26:23 left in the first half, Hillsboro struck again, booting in a loose rebound in front for a 2-0 advantage. Field position played a major factor in the game as the giant leg on the Hillsboro goalkeeper continually put the ball on the opposite end of the field. With 1:17 left in the opening half, the Indians got another shot past North Adams keeper Bella Gray to go up 3-0 at the intermission.
At the 31:29 mark of the second half, the visitors scored again, this time from point blank range, to move ahead 4-0 and at the midway point of the half what would have been the first North Adams goal of the night was nullified by an offside call on the Lady Devils’ Ava Pemberton.
With 10:33 to play, a Hillsboro shot from around 20 yards out found the top shelf and the net, the final goal for the Indians in a season-opening 5-0 victory.
With a few clouds disposing some of the humidity of the day, the boys teams too the field, North Adams coming off a 14-4-3 season under Coach Kirk Bunn where they were eliminated in overtime by Minford in the district championship game.
After the two teams just kind of felt each other out early, it was the Green Devils who moved the scoreboard first on a goal by junior Jayden Reckers at the 20:59 mark. With 12:26 to go in the first half, Hillsboro was whistled for a handball in the box but the ensuing penalty kick by the Devils’ Beau Hesler bounced off the post and away from the goal.
With seven minutes left in the half, the Indians tied the score, taking advantage of North Adams keeper Thaddeus Moore vacating the goal and the defense couldn’t clear. The first half ended in that 1-1 deadlock.
It was another penalty kick opportunity that gave North Adams the lead early in the second half with Reckers finding the back of the net uncontested. A freak goal by the Indians tied the game when a throw-in from the side made it to the front of the net and when the North Adams defender attempted to clear with a header, the ball went the opposite way, past Moore and into the net to tie the score at 2 apiece.
With 23:36 to go, the Devils took the lead for good on a goal by senior Tristan Young and a number of saves down the stretch by Moore kept his team one goal in front.With eight minutes remaining, Young scored again to extend the home team’s lead to two goals and with 4:50 on the clock, veteran official Bob Krauss stopped the game because of darkness and the Devils had a 4-2 victory.
“I was impressed tonight and thought our boys played well,” said Coach Bunn after the win. “We practiced hard over the summer and they seem to finally be learning the style of play that we want. Our defense was solid and it was Thaddeus’ first game as a high school goalkeeper. He still has a learning curve but I think he will hold things down pretty well.”
“Hillsboro is a good team and we figured it would be a close game and a good test for us. Beau Hesler is a key piece for us with his speed on the wings that open things up and he had a couple of assists tonight. Dalton Pence on defense is always solid. We still need to work on finishing at the goal but it’sa good start to the season and we plan on rolling with it.”
The North Adams boys were back in action on Monday, traveling to Whiteoak for their first Southern Hills Athletic Conference outing and then stayed in conference play on Wednesday, hosting Fayetteville. The Lady Devils’ soccer squad was also part of that conference battle on Wednesday, also playing host to Fayetteville.
