COLUMBUS — One minute after a stoppage of play because of an injury in the third round of the NCHSAA 1A playoffs, Polk County sophomore Gabby Savaia found the ball played perfectly to her feet.
Savaia saw the goalkeeper charging and tried to dribble around her, but had her feet tripped up. The ball, however, kept going, finding the back of the net to give the Wolverines the go-ahead goal in a 2-0 victory over Thomas Jefferson.
In a tightly contested match, the No. 2-seeded Wolverines (14-4-3) used the stoppage to regain momentum and battle their way to the fourth round of the playoffs.
“It would feel just as good if someone else scored, but seeing the team come together like that, it just livens the game,” Savaia said. “It gives us confidence to keep going.”
While the offense remained stagnant for most of the night, Polk County’s defense was especially strong in holding down Ella Duncan, the leading scorer for the No. 7 Gryphons (13-4).
“She was the key for us to contain in order to limit how explosive they were going to be,” Polk County coach Lennox Charles said. “(Defenders Natalie Serrano and Jasmine Baird) did an unbelievable job of really battling and keeping her (contained).”
The Wolverines are in a unique situation. Despite finishing third in the Mountain Foothills 7 conference, they received an autobid as the conference’s lone 1A school.
They got the No. 2 seed, earning a higher ranking in the West than they did in their own conference.
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Charles said the difficulty of Polk County’s conference schedule — which included 2A No. 2 seed Hendersonville and No. 12 seed Brevard — prepared it to handle this moment in the playoffs.
“It’s about handling the occasion,” Charles said. “That’s how I approach it with them to say, ‘Hey, you’ve already seen this (level of talent).’ Don’t be intimidated because you’ve survived some of this already.”
Polk County is in its first season as a 1A school after reclassifying down from last season, when they reached the second round before falling to Hendersonville.
“When we were playing in 2A, we were able to keep up with every team,” Savaia said. “We saw ourselves as 2A because we’ve been 2A for so many years. That, boosting our confidence when we come back down to 1A, the first round we were like, ‘Oh, we could actually do this.’ ”
It has been a long time since the Wolverines made the fourth round. Charles said he doesn’t remember the most recent occasion, but the Wolverines were still a 1A school then before moving up a class.
“It is a good feeling,” Charles said. “For the seniors who have worked really hard . . . The girls have put the work in. It’s nice to get rewards.”
Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
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