The Lord Botetourt girls opened their soccer season with two shutout wins last week, including a win over James River on the Knights’ home pitch. The Cavaliers won the intra-county matchup, 2-0, on Friday in Springwood.

Botetourt broke a scoreless tie when Hannah Leonard scored an unassisted goal at the 23-minute mark. Hannah Bane scored late in the second half to give the Cavaliers some breathing room, and Olivia Assenat recorded the save in goal. Assenat had six saves.

“She had several great saves,” said LB coach Giuseppe D’Arpa.

River’s Colleen Peery also had a nice game with 16 saves to keep the Knights in the game.

“Peery’s performance looked like a goal keeper highlight reel,” said River coach Bill Smith. “Both keepers were in good form throughout the night.”

After the game the girls gathered on the field to pray.

“In a brilliant display of sportsmanship and perspective, the captains of the two teams gathered the teams together after the match to pray,” said Smith. “These young ladies, locked in battle on the field, still sweaty from the contest, came together as one after the whistle. We could learn from these girls.”

River bounced back on Monday with a 7-0 win at Alleghany. The Knights dominated play as Kendra Peery led the scoring with three goals, two in the first five minutes of play. Also scoring for James River were Brook Ford, Kaitlyn McClung, and Megan Hill.  The final goal was an own goal by the Alleghany defense as they fought to clear a ball during an attack late in the match.

River’s keeper, Meaghan Hix, debuted in goal with seven saves.

The Knights also took a 7-0 shutout win at Amherst last week, defeating a Group 4A school. Emma Butler scored the first two goals, both assisted by Kaitlyn Johnson, and scored the final goal to complete a hat trick. McClung had two goals and Hill and Peery had one each.

River will be back in action tonight to host Radford, an always tough opponent. The game will be the second of a doubleheader with the boys.

LB was at Northside Tuesday. The girls also shut out Franklin County last Thursday at home, 2-0. LB scored in both halves and both goals came from Sara Bane with assists from her sister, Hannah Bane. Alex Heck had a strong game to record her first shutout of the season.

Botetourt will take on William Fleming on Thursday.