Highlands School’s girls soccer team kicked off its season against Andrews High School on March 19 following several postponements due to inclement weather and postseason basketball. Summit Charter and Blue Ridge Early College’s Girls soccer teams also returned to action on March 24 after a week without games.
Soccer
Highlands girls soccer secured a 3-1 victory in their first match over Andrews thanks to a brace from Aubree Brooks and an additional goal from Anabelle Hays. Nani Campos also provided the key assist to help seal the win.
The Lady Highlanders then fell 5-1 in their home opener against Murphy on March 20, with Jordyn Borino recording the lone goal.
Highlands responded in dominant fashion on March 24, defeating Plateau-rival BREC 8-0. The Lady Highlanders dominated from the opening whistle, controlling possession and dictating play on both ends.
They broke through in the 16th minute when Aubree Brooks capitalized on a giveaway from a goal kick, putting Highlands up 1-0. Eight minutes later, she doubled the lead with a first-touch strike into the corner.
With 14 minutes remaining in the half, Highlands earned a penalty, and Jordyn Borino converted to make it 3-0. Highlands added two more goals before halftime, with Anabelle Hays and Brooks each taking advantage of goalkeeping errors to make it 5-0.
The Lady Highlanders continued to dominate in the second half. Brooks recorded her fourth goal with a chipped finish over the keeper with 19 minutes remaining, and Borino added another goal one minute later. Hays capped off the scoring with a finish off a cross to secure the 8-0 win.
Highlands will travel to Murphy on March 26 at 6 p.m. and BREC will look to bounce back against Andrews at 4:30 p.m.
“It’s always been a rivalry with us and Blue Ridge, but getting everybody a chance to play, scoring some goals and getting some confidence is always a good thing,” said Head Coach Brett Lamb.
Summit Charter returned to action against Hayesville, earning a dominant 9-0 victory. The Lady Bears mercy-ruled the Lady Yellowjackets with 21:30 remaining in the second half, improving to 3-0 while scoring 28 goals through three matches. Summit Charter will next battle Swain County on March 26 at 6 p.m.
The Highlands middle school girls soccer team split its matches last week, falling 4-1 to Summit before bouncing back with a 2-1 victory over Murphy.
Golf
The Highlands varsity boys golf team traveled to Mountain Harbor Country Club on March 19 for a four-way match that came down to the final strokes. Led by Sam Conner and Chase Kenter, who each carded a 45 finish to tie for third individually, the Highlanders placed second overall with a score of 198. Andrews won the match with a score of 194.
The Highlanders returned to Mountain Harbor on March 24, placing fourth overall. Conner finished fifth individually.
BREC boys varsity golf’s match on March 24 was rescheduled for March 26 at Chatuge Shores.
Track and Field
Highlands varsity track team competed at an Andrews-hosted meet on March 18, with the girls finishing sixth overall and the boys placing fifth. Anabelle Hays took the podium with a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles, while Claire Worley secured fourth in the 1600 meter. Stephen Pierson also finished fourth in both the 110 and 300-meter hurdles, and the boys 4x100 relay team placed fourth.
- Mitch Stone
reporter@highlandsnews.com