Saturday, April 25th, will be the season ending game for West Virginia Tech University Baseball ⚾️ and that leaves us just over two weeks of action left. Three weekend series remain ➕️ two scheduled mid-week tilts with both being on the road, beginning today at the University of Pikesville.
We enter today’s non-conference match-up with a 9-9 mark in such games. The Bears of Pikeville are enjoying another strong season and should prove to be quite the foe. The final mid-week match-up will take place next Tuesday at Davis & Elkins.
It’s always a great day to be a Golden Bear 🐻!
The team returns to Linda K Epling Stadium this weekend for the next to last home three game set versus IU – Kokomo and close out the home schedule on April 24 & 25 versus Midway.
The Hill – Carroll County High School became more confident with each minute that ticked off the clock ⏰️ Monday night at Tommy Thompson Field as they faced perinatal power Glenvar in Girls Soccer.
With the thought of a nil – nil draw dancing in our heads, Gabby Barba snuck a shot past Alexis Sheffey well inside of the closing two minutes, allowing Glenvar to escape with a 1-0 Three Rivers District victory over Carroll County.
Sheffey, the senior tri-captain, had played the game of her career in keeping the always tough Highlanders off the scoreboard for almost the full 90 minutes. Barba had been the lead instigator for the visitors from start to finish, so it was fitting that if a Highlander player would break the seal on the goal, it would be #2.
Glenvar 🏫 has set the bar for soccer at the high school level for quite some time as other programs in both the District and across the Commonwealth use their matchups against the Highlanders as a measuring stick.
Everything was going in the right direction for the Lady Cavaliers, as the Junior Varsity team was acknowledged prior to the game as they missed out on their opportunity to challenge the Big Dog 🐕 as for the second straight season Glenvar has fielded just one squad.
Former Lady Cavalier and current college player, Karmen Smith was on the sidelines fulfilling her new role as volunteer assistant coach. The spring break might have lowered the number of fans in the stands, but those who were on The Hill more than made up with their energy.
It’s not the norm to celebrate a nil-nil tie, and I promise you that it could only occur when the opponent is Glenvar soccer.
Savannah Swecker provided the early first-half opportunity for Carroll County with a charge at 31:30, but Maddie Frackelton made the save. Yuleimy Solis added one at 3:20, but everything in between was about Sheffey and the backline defense of the Lady Cavaliers.
Starting the second 40:00, Glenvar turned up the pressure considerably. Six different shots headed towards the net in the opening sixteen minutes. The most intense play of the game took place just under 24:00 minutes remaining, and Sheffey was on the ground inside the box.
Glenvar rolled the ball towards the empty goal, and everything looked like it was taking place in slow 🐌 motion. As the ball looked to cross the line, it was Aliza Hardy that steeped in to preserve the 0-0 score.
The Highlanders kept attacking, and Sheffey kept them at bay. The visitors sent the ball in the direction of the net fifteen times across the second half.
After the 80:00 minutes of regulation, the teams lined up to play two 5:00 overtime periods. Alisia Torres Lopez recorded a shot on goal for CCHS in the extra frame, and when the game went under the final two minutes for the fourth and final time, the crowd collectively held its breath in hopes of a draw.
Meeting prior to OT
Glenvar is the standard berrier for the folks who play soccer ⚽️ on The Hill, and for a night, we closed the gap.
Up at Glenvar tonight, the home team won both matches, 6-4 and 8-0 over our Boys.
JV players are showing their support !
Now, here is the match description through the eyes 👀 of Head Coach Adrienne Harris McGuire :
What a night at home for the Varsity Lady Cavaliers against the top team in the district!! The girls took the top team in the district to overtime and it took them 89 minutes to find a goal. The final score will go down as a 1-0 loss but for us it is a huge step in the right direction! For the last couple of years Glenvar has been a game that many were not excited to play. Glenvar has been a power house in our district for quite a few years. Last night our girls stepped up to the challenge and did not back down!! The heart and fight our girls had was amazing to watch.
Alexis Sheffey had an outstanding night in goal. She saw many shots, but she stepped up and had a huge night for us. Our defense stepped up to the challenge as well. I feel like it was the best night of the year for our backline so far. Our defense included Jackie Arellano-Torres, Genesis Harmon, Elena McKenzie, and Aliza Hardy. The defense fought all night long with the speed of Glenvar’s forwards and all the numbers they would bring up into their offense.
In the second half Aliza Hardy came up with a big save right on our goal line. A ball made it through our defense and past Alexis but Aliza was behind them covering and was able to clear it out right before it rolled over the line. This was a major play for us.
Our midfield and forwards also had major impacts on our game last night. Our midfield did a great job of making sure they came all the way back on defense. Callie Harris and Bibiana Rojas Bautista were key players in the middle of the field for us last night. They did a great job of breaking up Glenvar’s offensive momentum many times before they got to our defense.
These two also did a great job of getting up and down the field when we had opportunities to push up into our offensive third. Our wing midfielders were Nathaly Contreras, Yeili Urbina, Kristen Dalton, and Yuleimy Solis. All four of these players helped us tremendously defensively. They did a really great job of getting back on defense so that they could be the first defender.
This allowed our defense to provide extra backup in case the midfield did get beat. We did an amazing job of covering each other on defense last night. Our forwards played a lot more defense than they normally do last night, but they all really stepped up! Our forwards last night were Savannah Swecker, Alisia Torres Lopez, Ithaca Vaught, and Valeria Rosales. All four of these players not only had a few breakaways against a very solid defense, but they also provided us a lot of defensive support into our midfield.
There were a couple plays where Savannah and Alisia combined a few passes between each other and were able to get in behind Glenvar’s defense. Overall, last night was a full team effort from the ones on the field and the ones on the sideline.
It was a huge step in the right direction for our program. Our girls never backed down and never gave up. That is not easy to do when you are playing defense for almost the entirety of a game. I am so proud of the girls for the heart that they showed and the fight that they all had. I am excited to get back to work at the end of this week to begin preparing for 3 big games next week.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 