HPCA soccer tops Westchester
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian finally took control after shaking off the rust.The Cougars, after a bit of a slow start yielded only an early goal and a late goal during the first half, netted four goals in the second half to surge past neigh-boring Westchester Country Day 6-0 in Piedmont Triad Athletic 2A/3A/4A girls soccer Wednesday evening at Westchester’s Kennedy Field.
“I think we played well,” HPCA coach Austin Beck said. “We were doing some really good things and playing our game. Westchester — credit to them, they made us work for it. It was 1-0 for about 36 minutes in the fi rst half and then we finally got that one with about 40 sec-onds to go. But I think we played well.“It’s been kind of a challenge this season with all the rain and being inside for practices. You’re always kind of wondering what’s going to happen when you step back out on the field after a couple indoor practices. But I don’t think there was any effect there. We stepped out and played well and played our game.”
Lauren Austin and Kami Kershaw each scored two goals to lead the Cougars (6-2 over-all, 3-0 PTAC), who last played April 1 against Village Christian. Riley Barrett and Ashlyn Austin each added one goal, as Skylar Talbert had two assists and Anna Kristin Kirby and Anna Wetherington each had one assist.HPCA scored in the third minute on a cross in front to Barrett but, despite controlling pos-session, couldn’t find the net until scoring off a corner kick to Kershaw in the 40th minute.
In the second half, how-ever, the Cougars con-nected much better on their chances to quickly pull away.
“I felt like we kind of had a slow start getting into it,” said Barrett, a junior forward and team captain who has committed to USC Aiken. “But I think, second half, Coach really fired us up, and I think we got our momentum back and our intensity back. So, I think we played really well.
“We get a couple good movements off the ball and we start clicking,” she said of what keys her team’s strong play. “We just get in the right mindset. Some-times I’ll get with a teammate, like Lauren Austin, and just talk with her. And she’s like, ‘You’re good — next one.’ We play with each other and read each other really well. We just have good chemistr y and that helps us a lot.”
Lauren Austin scored on a cross and volley in front in the 44th minute. Then, in the 61st min-ute, Ashlyn Austin finished on a cross in front following a run up the sideline. Lauren Austin scored again in the 76th minute after a long shot hit off the post. Two minutes later, Kershaw scored on a deflected shot in the box.
On the other side, the Wildcats (2-4, 1-3) had flashes of opportunities but just couldn’t answer HPCA’s possession and pressure. Hannah Klein finished with 25 saves — including a number of difficult stops — for Westchester, while Braley Dula made two saves for the Cougars, who outshot the Wildcats 31-2 for the match.
“We played well. We keep growing and getting better ever y single day, which is awesome,” Westchester coach Rustin Thomas said. “We have 17 girls who love to play together — that’s all you can ask for and it’s awesome. We work hard in practice. It’s tough in our conference with some really, really good teams.
“Riley Barrett, she’s one of the best in the state, maybe in the region. One of our fresh-men, Grace Evans, did an excellent job against her. It was great — they did an awesome job. ... There are a lot of fresh-men playing key roles. The experience is lacking, but ever y single game, ever y practice it’s getting better.
“Games like this are great. When they’re seniors, we’re going to be that much better.”HPCA, which will be on spring break next week, plays again today at Calvar y Day and Friday at Greensboro Day. The Wildcats, who have already had spring break, also play again today at home against Greensboro Day.
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian finally took control after shaking off the rust.The Cougars, after a bit of a slow start yielded only an early goal and a late goal during the first half, netted four goals in the second half to surge past neigh-boring Westchester Country Day 6-0 in Piedmont Triad Athletic 2A/3A/4A girls soccer Wednesday evening at Westchester’s Kennedy Field.
“I think we played well,” HPCA coach Austin Beck said. “We were doing some really good things and playing our game. Westchester — credit to them, they made us work for it. It was 1-0 for about 36 minutes in the fi rst half and then we finally got that one with about 40 sec-onds to go. But I think we played well.“It’s been kind of a challenge this season with all the rain and being inside for practices. You’re always kind of wondering what’s going to happen when you step back out on the field after a couple indoor practices. But I don’t think there was any effect there. We stepped out and played well and played our game.”
Lauren Austin and Kami Kershaw each scored two goals to lead the Cougars (6-2 over-all, 3-0 PTAC), who last played April 1 against Village Christian. Riley Barrett and Ashlyn Austin each added one goal, as Skylar Talbert had two assists and Anna Kristin Kirby and Anna Wetherington each had one assist.HPCA scored in the third minute on a cross in front to Barrett but, despite controlling pos-session, couldn’t find the net until scoring off a corner kick to Kershaw in the 40th minute.
In the second half, how-ever, the Cougars con-nected much better on their chances to quickly pull away.
“I felt like we kind of had a slow start getting into it,” said Barrett, a junior forward and team captain who has committed to USC Aiken. “But I think, second half, Coach really fired us up, and I think we got our momentum back and our intensity back. So, I think we played really well.
“We get a couple good movements off the ball and we start clicking,” she said of what keys her team’s strong play. “We just get in the right mindset. Some-times I’ll get with a teammate, like Lauren Austin, and just talk with her. And she’s like, ‘You’re good — next one.’ We play with each other and read each other really well. We just have good chemistr y and that helps us a lot.”
Lauren Austin scored on a cross and volley in front in the 44th minute. Then, in the 61st min-ute, Ashlyn Austin finished on a cross in front following a run up the sideline. Lauren Austin scored again in the 76th minute after a long shot hit off the post. Two minutes later, Kershaw scored on a deflected shot in the box.
On the other side, the Wildcats (2-4, 1-3) had flashes of opportunities but just couldn’t answer HPCA’s possession and pressure. Hannah Klein finished with 25 saves — including a number of difficult stops — for Westchester, while Braley Dula made two saves for the Cougars, who outshot the Wildcats 31-2 for the match.
“We played well. We keep growing and getting better ever y single day, which is awesome,” Westchester coach Rustin Thomas said. “We have 17 girls who love to play together — that’s all you can ask for and it’s awesome. We work hard in practice. It’s tough in our conference with some really, really good teams.
“Riley Barrett, she’s one of the best in the state, maybe in the region. One of our fresh-men, Grace Evans, did an excellent job against her. It was great — they did an awesome job. ... There are a lot of fresh-men playing key roles. The experience is lacking, but ever y single game, ever y practice it’s getting better.
“Games like this are great. When they’re seniors, we’re going to be that much better.”HPCA, which will be on spring break next week, plays again today at Calvar y Day and Friday at Greensboro Day. The Wildcats, who have already had spring break, also play again today at home against Greensboro Day.
