Lady Flames Win BRC Championship!

From the looks of things, the EMHS girls soccer team is hitting its stride at the perfect time. 

On a rainy, cold Saturday afternoon, the Flames dominated North Cross to win their third straight Blue Ridge Conference championship. North Cross came in with a strategy: pack their defense in tight to attempt to stymie EMHS's offense. This meant that they had very few, if any, scoring chances as the ball was on North Cross's defensive end almost all game.

Even with this strategy, they couldn't stop Junior Vaughn Strickler and 8th Grader Emily Myers (pictured left). Just 2:06 into the contest, in a driving rain, Emily slid a pass to her right to Vaughn, who tucked in an easy shot for a 1-0 Flames lead. In the second half, at 44 minutes, Emily showed her superior quickness when she chased down a Senior J.J. Hostetter cross in the box just right of the goal, and slipped a shot pass the keeper.  In the 68th minute, Vaughn found Emily with a cross, and Myers ripped a left-footed shot in to finish the scoring for the afternoon.  All that was left was a soggy, muted celebration. Most of these girls have been here before, after all. 

Except for Emily Myers. How did everything go right in this game? Emily said, "I don't know... Things just worked out!"  Indeed.  Senior Julia Johnson now has three championships in her time at EMHS. "It feels good," she said. "We worked hard, and we were solidly undefeated in the conference."

Flames with all-tournament honors are Junior Emma Beachy, Vaughn Strickler, Sophomore Kara Lofton, and Emily Myers. First team all-conference Flames are Julia Johnson, Vaughn Strickler, Kara Lofton, and Emily Myers.

The girls' season is not yet over: the state tournament looms with a possible home game on Tuesday afternoon.

Congratulations, ladies!