Recap for this past week for the Lady Cavs Soccer Team and an Emory and Henry Spring game!!!! So far this season going into this week the Lady Cavs are 3-0 and they have outscored their opponents 13-0. This week they would go up against the defending district champs in Glenvar and the James River Knights (also a powerhouse in the three rivers district).
Tuesday away at Glenvar.
The first half really was anyone’s game with both teams having chances. Glenvar has all kinds of travel players and overall just great experience at high levels. Our team is very young but has so much heart!!! Glenvar got frustrated after being turned away so many times but finally broke through for a 1-0 lead after the ball was not cleared out of the box. Give a great team a chance like that and they will make you pay. After a few by the cavaliers, Glenvar would add their 2nd goal of the half. The Cavaliers held their own in the first half but down 2-0 at the half.
2nd half – the Cavaliers ran out of legs but never gave up. The heart showed for the whole half but the experience of Glenvar also showed!!! The cavaliers in the first minute came up with one of their best chances but missed out wide. Final score was 7-0 in favor of Glenvar. Game balls would have to go to Breanna Shumate on her shut down defense and hustle!! Callie Harris also had a game to be proud of. She ran at least 4 miles in this game hustling on offense and defense!!!!
Fast forward to last night, and how would the young Cavalier team respond after their first loss of the season. This game was also on the road and very chilly conditions. My wife and I try to make every game but that night we were 150 miles away at Emory and Henry watching our oldest play in her last home spring game vs Johnson university. More on that later but we received a message at the end of the Emory game that our youngest got hurt at the beginning of the Cavalier game and a couple minutes later got another saying she was back in the game. Wow the roller coaster of emotions knowing we are usually at the games and the one time we are not our player gets hurt. We could tell watching it on NFHS that she was not moving great but we also saw that she was not going to let her team down.
First half our team was struggling to overcome the elements but Ashlyn Newman found some room on the right side and made a great pass across the mouth of the goal for Ahliyah Riffey to score her 2nd goal of the season and to put the Cavaliers up 1-0. At this point in time my wife and I were getting some food and watching and celebrating out in the parking lot at a loves truck stop. Would love to know what people were thinking when they saw us celebrating that goal. The rest of the 1st half was chances by both teams but nothing on the board!!! Start of the 2nd half was again chances for both team to score but it was the Cavaliers that put their 2nd goal of the night on the board when Ashlyn Newman scored. It was a bad touch by a defender 40 yds away from goal but it gave Newman the chance to capitalize on that mistake and put it in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead!! James river answered not long after that with a nice shot from the top of the box to put the game at 2-1. The next 20+ mins was scoreless and the young Cavalier team came home with the victory!!!
This game even though the team as a whole struggled especially on the defensive side of the ball showed everyone the heart of this group of young ladies. It also showed that some step up even more than normal to help their team to a victory!! Two of those I would like to recognize, one gets the game ball for the night and that goes to our keeper Alexis Sheffey. This keeper keeps improving and continues to impress her coaches and teammates.
A few words from our coach about this game and the night that our keeper had:
” Big night for Alexis Sheffey! Our defense struggled at times, but Sheffey came up with some big saves! I don’t have the total number. I was proud of the ladies, we struggled through a few injuries.”
Alexis had over 40 saves for the week and she will be a big part in how this team does this year!!!
The 2nd player I would like to recognize is Karmen Smith. She has been a very strong presence in our defense this year and she continues to anchor a defense that is very young. On a personal note I remember talking to this young lady on the rec soccer field and telling her how impressed I was with her and that she needed to start playing travel. She did that and the sacrifices they have made over the years have really paid off. She not only gets a game ball for last nights win but she gets one for the whole week. Her leadership and hustle on the field will be another factor in how well this team does this year.
Well I cannot close without giving an update on the game we went to watch in person last night. Emory and Johnson was tied at the half but the whole 2nd half belong to the 🐝!!!! The final was 3-0 and our Adrienne had two assists in the final 10 minutes of the game to help lead her team to a victory!!!! So proud of her and her team. What a night after their game we stayed and watched the guys game and the Cavaliers game on NFHS. Fun night!!!!!
As my good friend Nicole Lyons would say it’s always a great day to be a Cavalier!!!!
Photo 📷 of the Day :
Need to find out who took this shot so we can give him or her credit for a great capture !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 