The James River girls defeated Nelson County and Alleghany in soccer to improve to 4-1 on the season. The Knights have a return match with Nelson in Springwood tonight.
Last week in Lovingston the Knights defeated Nelson, a Region 2C rival, by a 3-1 score. The game was scoreless in the first half but the Knights drew first blood just four minutes into the second half when Rhaya Kitt finished off an assist from freshman Jordyn Simmons to put the visitors ahead.
Jordyn was there for another assist 10 minutes later with freshman Sonny Sharp finishing for the Knights and giving a little margin in the highly contested match. Avery Carr capitalized on a rare defensive mistake and finished unassisted at the midpoint of the half to make it 3-0, and that lead help up as the Governors scored one late goal. Kylee Aaron had 20 saves in the goal for River.
It was a cold and damp night in Axton Monday but the Knights heated things up with a 6-0 win over Alleghany in a Three Rivers District match at the Smith River Complex.
River opened the scoring with 17 minutes to go in the first half when Kitt finished with an assist from Sophia Martin. The pair repeated the combination four minutes later, taking the visitors to a 2-0 lead. Then, with less than two minutes on the clock, Jazmyn Rinehart finished from the rebound of a shot from Martin to take the Knights into the break with a comfortable 3-0 margin.
The second half was more of the same. Regan Childs scored 10 minutes into the half, assisted by Kitt. Avery Saunders finished a couple of minutes later, assisted by Simmons, and the final goal of the match was a second finish from Childs, this one assisted by Sharp.
The James River goal was split with senior Kylee Aaron making one save and her sister, freshman Kendall Aaron, finishing up with no saves required.
After tonight’s home game with Nelson the girls will be back on the Springwood pitch Friday to host Carroll County.
“The girls are playing well, working together and having fun,” said coach Bill Smith. “The two home games this week should be tough.”
