The district semifinal loss to Lynchburg was the final high school soccer game for a quartet of North Adams seniors. From left, Julia Wagner, Emmy Holt, Carlee Garrison and Kensley Cornette. (Photo by Tim Daulton)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The 2025 season came to a heartbreaking end for Coach Morgan Hendrickson and her North Adams Lady Devils soccer squad on October 15 as the Lady Devils suffered a 1-0 overtime loss to the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs in the Division V district semifinals. The Lady Devils had blanked Zane Trace 5-0 in the district quarters before facing off with the Lady Mustangs.
North Adams and Lynchburg had played to a 3-3 tie back on October 3 and in this tourney outing, the two teams battled scoreless through 80 minutes of regulation before the #2 seeded Lady Mustangs celebrated a trip to the district finals after a goal by junior Savannah Bell in the first overtime period.
“Our season seemed to be like most others in our district, inconsistent,” said Coach Hendrickson. “We struggled at the beginning with injuries and sharing girls with other sports and that made many of our freshmen have to step up into a big role. The girls started to learn and grow as the season went on and played some skilled teams closer. We weren’t really fully staffed until going into the first Lynchburg game which made a huge difference. Overall we met our goal of playing our best soccer at the end of the season, unfortunately they just came up short in the end.”
The loss to Lynchburg marked the end of the high school careers for North Adams seniors Emmy Holt, Kensley Cornette, Carlee Garrison and Julia Wagner.
“These seniors are special, as are all of them,” commented Coach Hendrickson. “They were freshmen during the year of our school’s district championship and playing in the regional tournament against a final four team in Lynchburg. These seniors have grown in the game tremendously! They will even tell you that they were very fresh to the game when they came in as freshmen. Carlee, Kensley and Julia played all four years and were captains this year. Emmy wasn’t able to play due to sharing with golf over the last year or so, thankfully she came back to us this season even though we still had to share her. She was a huge asset to the team as all of my seniors are. They will have big shoes to fill.”
Even with the tough defeat, one of the big stories to come out of the district semifinal is that is was the final game in the North Adams coaching career for Hendrickson after seven years at the helm, taking over from long-time head coach Dave D’Avignon.
“The end of Wednesdays game was an emotional one for sure,” explained Hendrickson. “We have all known that this would be my last season, as I’ll be getting married and moving to Huntington in the winter. There isn’t anything that could have truly prepared me for how I would feel. The North Adams soccer program has been a large part of me for the last 25 years when my parents started the SAY leagues. I know I’m biased, but the north Adams community is unlike any other and that’s what makes it so hard to have this be my final year. This group of girls and all the girls I’ve coached before have been such a blessing to me. They’ve made me better, and I can only hope that I have done the same. Ike Wooten stepping into the role next year is a huge stress relief for me. He obviously knows what he’s doing and is great with the team. I’ll be there to cheer from the stands from now on, I’ll just have to be louder than normal.”
The Lady Devils completed their 2025 season with an overall record of 8-10-1.
