Wilmington, NC - Cape Fear women's soccer defeated USC Lancaster 6-0 Saturday on sophomore night to lock 1st place in NJCAA Region 10. Freshman Carly Higgins and sophomore Janessa Annis scored hat tricks.
Despite the final scoreline, Cape Fear entered halftime leading just 1-0. The lone goal came in the 22nd minute, as Higgins scored off an assist from Annis.
Higgins returned the favor in the 58th minute, setting up Annis for her first goal of the game. Five minutes later, Annis scored her second of the game off an assist from Cheyenne Floyd. Higgins scored a minute later to make it 4-0. Midfielder Nina Perry provided the assist.
The final two goals both came within two minutes of each other, and assisted by Sierra Raynor. The sophomore attacking midfielder set Annis in the 76th minute, then helped Higgins complete her hat trick in the 78th.
Head coach Ryan Deppa praised Higgins and Annis afterwards for their hard work and overall play.
"I was very pleased with how Janessa Annis and Carly Higgins worked through some frustrating, tough moments and still were able to each earn a hat trick."
After the tough first half the game could have gone in any direction, but Deppa was happy his team played with the right mentality.
"[I am] super proud of the team for handling half time together and coming out in the 2nd half willing to put the work in to take over the game. Every one of them did a great job tonight."
Along with the strong offensive performance, it was the team's sixth straight clean sheet, as goalkeepers C.J. Garvey and Kenedy Green split halves, with Green making two saves in the second half.
While Deppa was proud of his entire team, he took a moment to praise sophomores, Sierra Raynor, Sydney Parker, Alaina Capps, Kenedy Green and Janessa Annis for their accomplishments the past two seasons. The sophomores went undefeated at home over two seasons, and Deppa emphasized how significant they have been to the program.
"[The sophomores] leave the field tonight playing an important role in the last two seasons by going 17-0 in games played at home. That is quite special."
Cape Fear improves to 13-0 on the season, and 10-0 in conference play.
Courtesy of Nick Denning
