Lady Canes Soccer Wins Season Opener

The Jasper County-Monticello High School varsity girls soccer team made its season debut last week with a 3-0 victory against visiting BASA (Barrow Arts and Science Academy).

Becky Leigh Wilson scored the first goal for the Lady Canes early in the first half. Betz Marti added the second goal on a corner kick.

Marlene Torres followed up on a corner goal with an assist from Martin to score the third goal of the match.

Martin was the player of the game with a goal and an assist, coach Angela Savage said.

Maddie Spieks, a first-year player, had an attempt on goal. Freshman Grace DeGarmo played keeper and recorded nine saves.

“Our varsity team has six seniors this year,” Savage said. “Most of these ladies have been playing together on and off since their recreation department days. Three have been playing for JCHS since their eighth-grade year including Aubrey Crowe, Carly Baker, and Julia Proctor. “

A solid offseason program has already paid dividends.

“We also have underclassmen who are assets to this season’s team,” Savage said. “We have been conditioning since Thanksgiving and were able to start practicing as soon as we returned from Christmas break. The high school has really put together a weight training program for not only our football players but all other athletes. Several of the Lady Canes took advantage of this opportunity and it is showing. These ladies know that to have a strong winning season, we need to play faster. We must keep possession of the ball as much as possible. Every day we are running drills and scrimmaging.”

The coach said the key to the win in the season opener was possessing the ball more.

“BASA had a strong center midfielder who really worked to get the ball downfield but we used a quick defensive player to cut off their forward movement,” Savage said. “Julia Proctor was effective in stealing the ball, moving the ball up the field/passing to centerfield players.”