Photo by Leigh Downey
The James River girls will take on arch rival Radford next Monday in a Three Rivers District soccer game at Radford High. The girls are 4-4-1 after splitting two close games in the past week.
Last Friday in Springwood the girls lost to Riverheads in a non-district game, 2-0.
“This game was all about missed opportunities,” said River coach Bill Smith. “The girls played some good soccer and made several good scoring opportunities, but good defensive pressure and a top notch goal keeper combined with a little bad luck to keep us off the board.”
On Monday the Knights bounced back with a 5-3 win over Patrick County in Springwood. Sophia Martin scored early off an assist from Rhaya Kitt to take the lead for the Knights, but the visiting Cougars scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead into the break.
That score stood until 20 minutes remained on the clock. Then the floodgates opened as the Knights found a second wind. Konner Myer finished two in short order, the first unassisted and the second set up by Martin to tie the game at 3-3. Minutes later, Alise Orent drove hard past the defense and fired a shot on goal. The keeper deflected it, but Victory Race-Waller was there to finish as River took a 4-3 lead with 11 minutes remaining. Orent found the back of the net again with three minutes remaining in the match, assisted by Myers, to seal the victory.
Kylee Aaron made eight saves for the Knights and came out of the box to break up multiple attacks. Skye Ayers made 13 saves for the Gladiators.
