The James River girls have two River Ridge District soccer games this week, both on the road. The Knights were scheduled to play Carroll County in Hillsville Tuesday, and on Thursday they go to Radford for what is always a big match.
River split two games during spring break last week, defeating Nelson County at home, 5-2, but falling to Eastern Montgomery, also in Springwood, last Thursday. The 8-0 shutout loss to East Mont was the most one-sided defeat since Bill Smith took over the program.
“We had a bad night and they are a great team,” said Smith. “If we can learn from this it will be worth the pain. We will see about that in the weeks to come.”
River hosted Nelson County on March 28 and defeated the Governors on a cold and windy night. Fans and substitutes all huddled under blankets and coats, but the play offered plenty of intensity.
Nelson drew first blood in this match but Ella Wright returned the favor two minutes later with an unassisted goal in heavy traffic for the Knights. Konnor Myers dropped a long shot from distance deep into the back corner of the goal for the go-ahead score with 12 minutes left in the half. Then Kayla Myers nailed a strong shot from a crowd in the middle of the penalty area in the final minute of the half for a 3-1 River lead at intermission.
The second half started much like the first with solid possession by the Knights but no scoring in the early minutes. Drew Whitson finished in traffic, off a Myers assist, to make it 4-1 12 minutes into the half. The Governors cut the lead to 4-2 midway through the second half, but Myers completed the scoring off an assist from sister Konner with 12 minutes remaining for the final 5-2 tally.
The Knights came into the week at 3-2.
