Palmetto Christian Academy building a solid foundation on the pitch

By Neill Kirkpatrick

Special to the HSSR

Mt. Pleasant – The Palmetto Christian Academy Lady Eagles soccer team has experienced its ups and downs over the years but with renewed excitement surrounding the program they are looking to build one of the top soccer programs in SCISA.

“The girls Varsity soccer program generated a lot of interest amongst the PCA student body this year. As a result, we had a fantastic turnout for evaluations. This allowed us to expand our Varsity roster to twenty-one and still have a complete Junior Varsity squad. It is officially exciting times for the program” said head coach Alex Fritts.

The Lady Eagles have used that excitement to jump out to a 4-2/1-1 start on the pitch. They have recorded three shutouts on the year and picked up a big win over perennial SCISA state power Hilton Head Christian Academy in a shootout.

“We feel good about where we are as a team. However, I expect we will get stronger throughout the season as we build chemistry as a team. While our goal each game is to work hard and have fun from first whistle to last, we ultimately do want to earn a playoff spot,” coach Fritts said.

The Lady Eagles have four seniors that bring experience to both sides of the pitch. On the defensive side Bella De Los Reyes and Autumn Benton are the core of a solid defensive unit while Anne Lancaster (Striker) and Ana Taylor (Mid field) provide the same leadership when attacking the opposing team’s net.

Joining Reyes and Benton on the defensive side of the pitch are some young but talented Lady Eagles in sophomore goalkeepers Ava Benton and Alyssa Carper and sophomores Grace Parker and Saylor Sorensen and freshmen Callie Pagenkopf playing in front of them. This group allows less than two goals a match.

Offensively, the Lady Eagles have the senior leadership of Lancaster and Taylor, it is their younger teammates that have provided the scoring.

Layla Lynch and Bella Pollard, just eighth graders, are first and third in scoring for the Lady Eagles. Lynch has scored eight goals and tallied nineteen points while Pollard has found the back of the net six times and has fourteen points.

Freshman Juliet Olson is second on the team in goals and points with seven and seventeen points respectively with sophomore Addison Surratt scoring two goals and seven points.

Juniors Bria Olson and Emily Romfo and sophomore Alden Baugh round out the rest of the offensive side of the pitch. Olson and Baugh have also found the back of the net for the Lady Eagles.

Key newcomers to the Varsity include juniors Scotty Wrenn and Lauren Pabst, sophomores Sophia Ralph and Skye Edwards, and eighth grader, Addy Carper,

“Ultimately, the girls have built such unrivaled fellowship as students at PCA, that playing and competing together is second nature. They collectively understand that athletics, soccer in this case, is simply a vehicle for them to grow as Christ did in wisdom and stature,” said coach Kitts.