Lady Cavs soccer reloads as they eye a return trip to the championship game

By Neill Kirkpatrick

Special to the HSSR

Greenville – Since 2020 (Covid Year) the Lady Cavs of Christ Church have a sparkling 51-9 overall record while going 21-0 against region 1A competition and playing in back-to-back state championship finals, but heading into the 2024 season head coach Ashley Seeley knew her team was going to have to replace a lot of talent that helped fashion that record.

“We lost 10 girls to graduation and a few other girls who didn’t return so I knew we had to approach the season a little differently,” said coach Seeley. “Winning is always the goal but this season is about learning to trust each other and support each other. I want to develop lifelong skills that can help players on and off the field”

“I definitely believe we will win the region this year and hopefully we can have a long run in the playoffs and compete for another championship,” Coach said

The Lady Cavs have gotten off to a good start to the year as they are 7-1-2 with their only loss coming to AAAAA Mauldin (10-0) 2-0. They started region play 3-0 which has run their region winning streak to twenty-four in a row.

Coach Seeley has only four seniors on this year’s team in forwards Desi Koumoustiotis and Sienna Fox, goalie Jasmine Ford and midfielder Mariana Gonzalez Arizti. Koumoustioti, Fox and Ford are the team’s tri-captains.

Jasmine Ford is a returning SCHSSCA AA All-State Goalie and one of the top goalies in the state. Coming into the year she had only given up eight goals in her career to go with twenty-two shutouts. She has already recorded five shutouts this season and has allowed only two goals. She has signed with historic HBCU Grambling State University.

Fox and Koumoustiotis provide a lot of offense for the Lay Cavs. Fox is a four-year start and has been named All Region several times. She scored thirty-seven goals in her first two years to go with eighteen assists. She has scored five goals and dished out nine assists on the year. Sienna Fox has signed with Brevard College.

Koumoustiotis leads the Lady Cavs in points with twenty-two and in goals with nine. She is also a returning to the All-Region forward. In two years, she has scored forty-four points, and no doubt will be the third college signee of this class.

Coach Seeley has three juniors who are returning All-Region performers in midfielders Amelia Spinks and Luisa Marie Waecker and defender Laura Morgan as well as starting midfielder Caroline Sutton.

Spinks is the reigning Region 1A Player of the year. She leads the team in assists with ten and is second in points with twenty while Waecker and Sutton have hit the back of the net three and four times, respectively.

Two sophomores in defensive players Jaxynn Ford and Effie Koumoustiotis and two freshmen in midfielder Sophia Mahfood and defender Grace Harrell.

Rounding out the Christ Church roster are sophomores Sophia Tzouvelekas, Riley Glenn, and Catherine Morton and freshmen Margaret Mullen and Margaret Swent

“This is a special group of girls. They care about each other, and they care about making this team the best team it can be. They are willing to put in the work to reach our goals, both team goals and individual goals. #team #family,“said the coach.