No one - and nothing - was going to seize Senior Day away from the Montreat College women's soccer team when they hosted Mountain State University on Wednesday, October 28 on their home field at the Black Mountain campus.  

In a comprehensive 3-0 victory, the opposing Cougars turned out to be the least of the worries for the Lady Cavaliers as they dominated possession, shots on goal, and the scoreline.  On a day designed to celebrate the long career of the five young women who are nearing the end of their final season, seniors Bethany Carmichael, Katie Kovarik, Leah Mummert, Kaitlyn "KK" Thacker, and Lucy White were especially proud of the team's winning effort.

Indeed, the forces that Head Coach Don Maples' troops needed to overcome were numerous.  There was the onerous burden of a losing streak punctuated by some disheartening close defeats.  There was an illness sweeping campus that had hit the women's soccer team hard.  And there were late-season injuries mounting up.  

Maples summed up the team's travails well: "We've been hit so hard by illness, the game was close to not being played as we had to get several players cleared medically just so we could field a complete team."

Maples also expressed the team's jubilation upon winning.  "Boy, did we need that."  

What the team needed to down Mountain State were three well-crafted goals.  Rebecca Worley scored her first goal of the season on a corner kick assist from Brittany Zachrich, who led the team with six shots.  Ellie Smith tallied the second goal of the match - also her first goal of the season - on an assist by Thacker to lead the Lady Cavaliers to the halftime break with a commanding 2-0 lead.  During the second half, Ashley Edwards completed the scoring by producing - you guessed it - her first goal of the season on an assist from Kovarik.

Currently 2-14-1 overall and 0-7 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, the Lady Cavaliers won't win the regular season title.  But Maples and his seniors hope to extend their season by surprising some foes as the regular season concludes and in the upcoming conference tournament this Saturday.