ACA soccer dominates conference season
How does one define domination? You might be able to find your answer on a soccer field in the Swannanoa Valley.
The Asheville Christian Academy girls soccer team finished off its conference season by outscoring its opponents 37-1. The lone goal they gave up was last week against a gritty Asheville School team.
The Lions found themselves in an early deficit against the Blues when, three minutes into the game, Asheville School took a 1-0 lead. The Lions leveled things at 1-1 when Julianne Vanderkwaak found freshman Emily Grice, who pushed the ball past the Blues keeper.
The game was extremely hard fought throughout, eventually ending in a 1-1 overtime tie. ACA goalkeeper Sabrina Jones had her first real activity in weeks, coming up with 10 saves against 15 Asheville School shots.
The Lions wrapped up the conference title in their final regular season game, taking out Carolina Day 3-0. A change in lineup and strategy by head coach Terry Hughes paid off with two goals in the first 10 minutes. Emily Grice scored at the 5-minute mark, and Lauren Douglas followed up with a goal in the eighth minute. Grice capped off the scoring in the 32nd minute. The Lions outshot the Wildcats 20-2 and controlled the game from start to finish.
ACA finished their regular season with an overall record of 11-0-3 and 7-0-1 in conference play. Up next for the Lions is the NCISAA state tournament. Seeding and opening round action for the first round will come out later this week.
Baseball
The ACA baseball team finished off their season last week behind the powerful pitching of junior Logan Collie. The Lions traveled to Asheville School in their final conference game of the year. Collie threw seven innings without giving up an earned run. He also struck out nine Blues batters in the process.
The game was scoreless after three innings, but the Lions pushed two runs across in the top of the fourth. Lions scored one more in the top of fifth but nine errors by the Lions over the course of the game allowed multiple scoring opportunities for the Blues despite the strong outing by Collie. The Blues tied things up at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lions were able to hold on in the end for a 6-5 victory.
At the plate, the Lions took advantage of the long ball. Both Jackson Roeder and Logan Collie homered in the winning effort. Senior Michael Johnson also had a big hit, driving in two runs. Cody Brady once again showed his speed on the base paths, swiping yet another base.
The Lions finished their campaign with an overall record of 6-9 and 2-6 in conference action.