RIVERSIDE — Carroll junior Ava Lickliter was the recipient of two nifty passes, and she scored on both of them, in a 2-0 win Oct. 2 over Greater Catholic League Co-Ed North division foe Middletown Fenwick at Spoerl-Bartlett Field.
Lickliter scored Carroll’s first goal roughly five minutes into the first half on a right-to-left crossing pass from teammate Alaina Casey, and the Patriots held that 1-0 lead at the break.
Goalkeeper Natalie Ryan launched a long second-half pass downfield to Lickliter with 26 minutes left to play in the match, then Lickliter raced past the Falcons defense and drilled a shot into the net from the right side.
Fenwick responded with three consecutive corner kick tries, but failed to convert any of them.
Carroll coach Sarah Flach said Lickliter has been much improved in recent games.
“She has really been coming on strong for us lately,” Flach said. “She’s very fast — Carroll was a state qualifier in track last year — and was a state finalist in basketball. She’s an all-around amazing athlete, and we’re glad that she takes time to be with us on the soccer team as well.”
According to the gclsports.com website, Lickliter has scored nine goals and added three assists in the last eight Carroll contests.
Fenwick (6-8-0, 3-3-0 GCLC North) and Carroll (12-1-1, 4-1-0 GCLC North) had been third and second respectively in the GCLC North standings. A Fenwick win would’ve moved the visiting Falcons into second, while bumping the Patriots down a notch. Flach said her team never takes a GCL opponent lightly.
“These are girls they’ve played against for four years, and a lot of them have played club soccer together, so you know it’s always going to be a good contest,” Flach said. “So if we can come out on top, 2-0 against a team as strong as Fenwick, we’ll take it.”
Carroll now has a good road test for its next match. The Pats head to Cincinnati to play Indian Hill at 3:30 p.m., Saturday Oct. 5 at Shawnee Field.
Fenwick takes the weekend off. They’ll then play at Waynesville for a nonleague match at 7:30 p.m. Monday Oct. 7.
