NORTH AUGUSTA -- Fox Creek girls' soccer isn’t letting a late-season injury bug stop its momentum heading into the playoffs.
The Predators finished their season undefeated in Region 3-AA after shutting out Pelion 8-0 on senior night. They also clinched back-to-back region titles after beating cross-county rival Strom Thurmond 1-0 on April 19.
Head coach Jason Spinks said the seniors have stepped up due to recent injuries, which was reflected in how they dominated scoring on Tuesday.
“I've got eight seniors that I'm losing,” he said. “We're enjoying it while we can. Next year we know is going to be rebuilding. But it was great to clinch the region championship against Thurmond, took a little bit of the pressure off in the last two games.”
Every goal against Pelion was scored by three of the eight seniors on the team. Madison Wells Bunting led the pack with five goals on the night with Jessica Olson and Azelinn Hall tallying one and two goals, respectively.
The Predators' depth is being tested with three injuries in the last few weeks. More players are having to step up mentally and physically to adjust to seeing the field more.
Sophomore Avery Morgan, senior Jovie Brown and junior Emily Spinks are all out for the rest of the postseason after suffering leg injuries.
“A lot of our players understand that they've got to do a little bit more because of the injuries,” Spinks said. “So they're digging deep. They're working hard on their fitness on their own. That's the one thing I challenged them to do because now with our three injuries that we have, we're not as deep, so they know that they're going to have to put a little bit more time, dedicated into their fitness and they're doing it.”
Sophomore midfielder Alissa Claire Rhodes is taking her new role offensively in stride to fill the hole Morgan has left, Spinks said. Morgan currently leads the region in goals, even after being out for several games.
"When our striker went down, (Rhodes) understood that she had to become more of an attacking threat," he said. "So she's really stepped up."
The defense has been a consistent bright spot for Fox Creek throughout the season, and the offense is adjusting to filling the gaps. The Predators have only given up one goal to a regional opponent all year against Strom Thurmond.
Fox Creek will open up the playoffs at home on April 30 against an opponent to be determined. Spinks said he’ll be bringing up three players from junior varsity to give the Predators options off of the bench.
“It's going to be huge,” Spinks said. “Home field advantage is a lot, especially when traveling on the road is difficult for any team having to play, but going home after school and relaxing and then coming to the field focused, the home field advantage is huge going into the playoffs.”
He credited the junior varsity team for developing players well enough to be ready to transition to a postseason varsity match.
The team has been working on not looking ahead too far and not getting hung up on the past all season, Spinks said.
He said the Predators' mindset will be the same as it has always been going into the postseason; take it one game at a time.
