Why Asheville High's girls soccer team is so confident advancing in NCHSAA playoffs
Even when Reagan was pressing, search for the tying goal during the second half of the NCHSAA 4A girls soccer playoffs, Asheville High coach Mike Flowe was confident.
Or at least as confident as a coach can be in a 1-0 playoff victory Thursday, thanks to an experienced backline that produced the No. 5-seeded Cougars’ 13th clean sheet in 22 games to advance to the third round.
“That was tough,” Flowe said. “We had some chances early and we didn’t score. They got better and better as the game went along.”
No. 12 Reagan (15-5) increased its pressure as the second half wore on, seeking an equalizer that never came. After Asheville (17-3-2) dominated the first half, the offense spent most of the second on fruitless counterattacks while the defense withstood whatever the Raiders threw at them.
“We all are so confident in whoever is back there,” sophomore midfielder Caroline Dew said. “We all know (goalkeeper Ellie Wiegand-Reavis) won’t even have to touch the ball.”
The backline is made up of upperclassmen, led by seniors Jesse Smith and Evie Bick. The experience they provide makes Flowe confident Asheville can win close games like Thursday’s.
“They know the organization we play and how we want them to play it,” Flowe said. “And when that breaks down, they’re really good by the seat of their pants.”
Smith said playing alongside experienced teammates means she trusts her teammates and doesn’t panic as the pressure mounts.
Asheville’s first half was marred when sophomore forward Peyton Case, the team's second-leading scorer this season with 20 goals, limped off the field in the sixth minute. She didn’t return and was on crutches in the team’s postgame huddle.
Flowe said if the injury keeps her out of the playoffs, she’ll be tough to replace.
Twenty minutes later, sophomore Sadie Hambright scored the winner on a long shot from roughly 20 yards out that slipped past Reagan’s goalkeeper. The goal was Hambright’s ninth of the season and third-most on the team.
Thanks to Asheville’s defense, the goal sent it on to the third round, where they'll stay at home to face No. 13 Charlotte Catholic, a team the Cougars drew 2-2 on the road to open the season.
If Flowe’s defense stays this impenetrable, though, it may cost him — he has a bet going with his team to dye his hair hot pink if the Cougars make it to the fourth round.
“I want to see that man with pink hair,” Smith said. “That would be awesome.”
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Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville High's defense holds in NCHSAA girls soccer playoff game win
