Varsity Women's Soccer Cruise to 3-0

The Varsity Women’s Soccer team took on Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs on Monday, March 9, 2015, in the first home game of the season. The Lady Crusaders cruised to another easy victory, winning the match by a score of 5-0. HCA was once again led by senior Margaret Clark who had three goals, giving her five in just two games. Clark’s speed and agility makes her lethal on the field, and will certainly give opposing teams trouble the entire season. Junior Haley Bowles and Senior Natalie Hardin both had excellent games with a combined two goals and two assists. Hardin now has two goals on the season. Freshman Sydney Norris also had an assist and three shot attempts in the Crusader victory. Even though Norris failed to score, she showed that she has the talent to be a big factor for HCA.

Defense continued to come easy to the Lady Crusaders on Monday. The Bulldogs had only six shot attempts the entire game, which sophomore goalie Emily Benton had no trouble handling. Senior Rylie Evans had a standout games defensively as well. Junior Catherine Armstrong showed off her ball handling skills and 8^th grader Anna Rackley had a strong game on offense.  While it is early in the season, HCA has shown that their amazing speed and excellent defense gives them a distinct advantage on the field.  There’s still a really long way to go in the season, but the girls have come out of the gate hot and look poised to make a run at a championship. The Lady Crusaders face rivals Freedom Christian at home next.  The game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10^th, at 4:00.

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After defeating Wallace-Rose Hill, the Varsity Women’s Soccer team returned to action the very next day against Freedom Christian. The Patriots scored a rare goal against goalie Emily Benton, who only allowed one goal on the season at that point. Unfortunately for Freedom, their defense didn’t have it in them to stop the dynamic Crusader offense; HCA won the game easily by a score of 7-1. HCA has scored an astonishing

 The trio of Haley Bowles, Margaret Clark, and Natalie Hardin once again led the Crusaders to victory. Bowles had three goals, giving her four on the season. Clark and Hardin both had two goals in the match. Clark leads the Crusaders with seven goals so far this season. Sophomore Harley Crumpler had an excellent game, finishing with three assists. Clark and Hardin combined for two assists.

 Benton had eight saves, continuing her stellar play so far this year. Senior Amanda Sutton dominated on the defensive side of the ball, frustrating the Patriots for the entire game. The Lady Crusaders had control of the match from the very beginning, just like their previous two games. The girls return to action on March 16^th vs. Epiphany School at home. The Crusaders then hit the road the next day for a rematch with Freedom. Both contests are set to begin at 4:00.