NEW MARKET — Southmont girls soccer played the final game of its regular season on Monday against Bethesda Christian who came in with a 9-2-1 record. It was also senior night for the six Mountie seniors. Shelby Chieppo, Ella Brewer, Jalen Crook, Jessie Bradley, Shakhia Burks, and Grace Simpson all were honored before the game. It ended up being a very happy senior night and final game for the Mounties as they earned a 3-1 win over the Patriots.
Standout junior Jessica Hale, as she has all season, got the Mounties on the board at the 12 minute mark. The Patriots did respond late in the first half at the 28 minute-mark as Laylah Calhoon evened up the game at 1-1. But just 20 seconds later, the Mounties had their answer thanks to freshman Emily Link giving the Mounties the lead for good. Southmont got its final goal early in the second half as Hale got her second goal of the game and 23rd of the season.
“Tonight was all about these seniors,” Southmont coach Roger Azar said. “I told them that this is their team and their game. They were able to go out on top and beat a very good team. This is an impressive win for us and I’ve told them all along that we have the ability do to great things, we just have to show up and play hard and typically good things happen for us.”
Southmont ends the regular season with a 9-7 record overall and winners of two straight. Azar made sure his six seniors also got the th recognition they deserve. While Azar is only in his second season with the Mounties, he’s still been able to build a special relationship with those six seniors.
“It’s the hardest part of every season is losing these seniors,” he said. “All six of these girls mean so much to the team and they bring experience that you can’t teach.”
A player that got special recognition from Azar after the win was junior goalie Olivia Snapp. Snapp made a couple of tremendous saves in the game to hold the Patriots. Late in the game with just five minutes remaining she took a hard hit in goal going for another save. According to Azar she is expected to be just fine.
“Snapp played phenomenal with some really good saves from almost every angle,” Azar said of his goalie. “Our defense, after she got hurt played really well to close out the game. I pulled some of our forwards back and just tried to pack the box. It was overall a great night for these girls.”
Southmont will have over a week to prepare now for post-season play. They will host the Class A Sectional 41 tournament which gets underway next Tuesday. The Mounties will have a re-match against the Cascade Cadets, a team they just beat 2-1 last week. Azar notes how his team will make great use of the time off to make sure they’ll good to go for the post-season.
“I’m going to give the girls tomorrow off first because they’ve earned it,” he said. “I’ve learned very quickly that the losses that we’ve had this year have come after some pretty grueling weeks. When these girls are fresh they play much better We’ll re-group on Wednesday and do our best when the sectional starts next week.”
