Rampants end Fike run in 3rd round, 1-0

Remarkable high school athletic careers ended for the senior pair of Erin Pope and Mallory Jenkins on the Fike High pitch Tuesday evening. They were joined by Ainsley Cato and Caroline Adkins, super athletes as well, in forming the 2024 senior soccer crop.

Pope and Jenkins couldn’t control the tears — and with good reason.

The farewell for the four Fike seniors came in the form of a gut-wrenching 1-0 loss to a Greenville Rose squad that the Golden Demons deadlocked 2-2 on April 17 at Fike.

Seeded No. 14 among the 32 East Regional qualifiers, the Rampants struck for their goal with just over 18 minutes remaining in the first half.

Opportunities for the Demons were limited by a Rose defense headed by 5-foot-11 sophomore goalkeeper Parker Hawley. Fike, the No. 11 seed, managed only five shots as compared to 20 for Greenville.

Pope and Jenkins both applauded Rose as well as the effort of their teammates, saying: “We left it all on the field.”

“I’m sad it’s over,” said Pope as her emotions cracked. “All in all, we played a pretty good game. We played hard. There were people on me; they covered me all the time. Their keeper came out (of goal) the first time we played them, and it was annoying. (Hawley) did it again tonight. It was annoying both times.”

Jenkins assured Hawley, who would wander as far as 20 yards out of goal to thwart runs, frustrated Fike attempts to build an offense.

“It was unique and it does take adjustments,” remarked Fike head coach Chris Mizelle. “It’s difficult to deal with, and they have, obviously, had a lot of success with it. Kudos to their staff (of head coach Kurt Garner) for having the right personnel to do that.”

Commented Hawley: “I think I did a good job of closing their girls down outside the (18-yard) box. It’s something I have been doing all year. We worked on defense. It has been our weak point — but not tonight. They were faster than we were, but it didn’t seem that way tonight.”

The Rampants advance into the fourth round or East semifinals with a 16-4-1 record, while Fike steps aside with an excellent 19-4-1 mark and a runner-up finish in the 3-A Quad County Conference.

With the dribbling and passing of sophomore Carys Carson, sophomore Willow Price, junior Mya Zambardino and sophomore Zoe Zambardino, the Rampants were extremely effective at keeping the ball, especially in the first half.

The defensive unit of freshman Ella Barrow, junior Molly Mesamer, senior Sophia Jones, senior Lilyanna Price and freshman Anna Porter always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. And they could always depend upon Hawley behind them.

“We changed up our formation on defense, and it definitely helped,” Hawley revealed.

“We still had a few good looks,” Fike’s Mizelle contended. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish one.

“They were tough defensively, and the goalkeeper was very active. You’ve got to play diagonal and get into the space outside. That was the plan.”

Carson, the leading scorer (16 goals) netted the goal on an assist from Price, Rose’s No. 2 threat.

Carson, Price, sophomore Addison Adler, Mya Zambardino and Jones kept a stubborn Fike defense of goalkeeper Cato, freshman Emily Hanchett, junior Zoe Mitchell, freshman Danica Peckerar, junior Ridley Harrison and sophomore Madison Ferrell, with Fike’s Cato making a fully extended, diving save in the closing minutes, and Karys Wheeler tapping a shot out of harm’s way — also in the second half.

Pope, the leading scorer; Jenkins, who netted three playoff goals; sophomore Allerie Pitt, Wheeler and sophomore Emory Skinner attempted to generate Fike’s offense.

The Demons most dangerous first-half opportunity occurred when Jenkins fielded a pass from Pope and laced a shot just inches wide of the right post.

“I was hoping it would hit the inside post and go in,” Jenkins said. “I wanted it to be on my side looking out. Their goalie plays so big, and their defense trails well with her.”

The final Fike chance to tie came with some three minutes to go. The Demons worked the ball in front of the goal, and Wheeler took a shot off a deflection. Rose’s Porter and Price attempted to help, but Hawley managed to reach out and deflect the ball, earning Fike a corner kick.

“We put all we had out there,” contended Jenkins. “After running track Monday, Erin came out and busted her tail all she could. We all had to keep going back and forth. Ainsley played a good game. (Rose) moved the ball around better, and took advantage of the space they had.”

In the early-season meeting, Fike erased a 2-0 deficit against the Rampants, and Mizelle reasoned: “Going down 1-0, I was not bothered. Tons of time was left. About 60-70 minutes in, I thought we were starting to put some good things together.”

But Mizelle and the team were left to reflect on a 19-4-1 season, a runner-up finish in the conference and a third-round advance in the 3-A playoffs.

“There’s not a whole lot to be too down about,” he declared. “This was another season that was worthwhile. I don’t feel any different about it right now.”

The players were, understandably, more downcast, but, between the tears, Jenkins and Pope, looked back. After winning two state championships in track and dominating the conference in cross country, Pope was proclaimed The Wilson Times Athlete of the Year earlier in the day. Jenkins asserted her presence in volleyball, soccer, basketball and track her senior year and earned a volleyball scholarship.

“Pretty good,” Jenkins assessed her career. “I wanted to go farther in soccer. I represented Fike as well as I could.

“Most enjoyable was soccer and basketball. Track is an individual sport. I loved my volleyball teammates. I finally saw some things about myself.”

Summarized Pope: “I did pretty good in my time here. I was pleased with the effort. I loved every chance to play with the soccer team … and all the time I spent with my teammates.”

Concluded Mizelle: “I love the fact I got to spend four years with Erin Pope.”

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