Being the No. 1 seed in the Blue Ridge Conference tournament didn’t change much about Covenant girls soccer’s approach Tuesday afternoon.
“I think we always need to come out strong,” said Covenant captain Anna Jane Johnson. “We knew coming in that team was going to fight hard and they did. Coming as the No. 1 you can’t let that get to your head, you have to fight just the same.”
That mentality paid off for the Eagles on senior night as they took care of business in a 7-2 victory over No. 8-seed Chatham Hall. With the win, Covenant advances to the conference semifinals.
“We’ve definitely been taking the mentality where it’s one game at a time, not coming in thinking we have this game in the bag,” said Covenant senior Chloe Mitchell. “We just have to play for each other and play our game.”
A.J. Hudock led the Eagles with a hat trick and an assist, creating chances in several situations by playing solid defense in the attacking half before quickly countering. Stella Maton also capitalized on and created some chances for the Eagles with two goals and two assists. Abi Shim and Maddie Henning each also had a goal while Claire Huddleston chipped in an assist.
That kind of offensive spread should be a huge boost for the Eagles as they continue in the BRC tournament and build towards a state tournament run as the No. 2 seed in VISAA’s Division II.
“Just knowing we can have multiple players shoot and make runs,it’s important to have that kind of balance,” Mitchell said. “Tactically and technically that’s a great thing.”
It was particularly impressive considering the massive cloudburst that stumbled through the area shortly before the Eagles and Chatham took the field. That made footing a little tougher in the aftermath and led to an adjustment by the Eagles.
“We knew we wanted to keep our shots low and away, you never know what’s going to happen in the rain, it can skid or bounce but we were able to adjust and I think we executed well,” Johnson said.
The Eagles will host a conference semifinal game Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
