Beating Lake Norman will have to wait at least another year for Statesville.
The Wildcats shook off an early deficit and took advantage of a few big opportunities to down the Greyhounds 2-1 on Wednesday.
Freshman reserve Kelsey Steiner scored on a putback midway through the second half to put Lake Norman (4-0) up for good.
"We always struggle against Statesville," Wildcats coach Jon Mertes said. "Give them credit. They always push us."
The Greyhounds always seem to score early, too. Ashley Wodecki kept that trend alive by scoring less than three minutes into the game.
SarahAnn Waugh pushed the ball into the box and sent a cross to Storm Mayberry, but the Wildcats defense bumped it out.
Wodecki was alone about 25 yards out. She collected the loose ball and ripped a shot that sailed over keeper Kali Harrison's outstretched hands and into the net.
"Our girls all jumped up and started cheering," Greyhounds coach Jennifer Husbands said. I said, 'Ladies, we are three minutes in.' It was a great goal, but we had a long way to go."
Lake Norman had longer possessions throughout the evening and really took advantage of two big scoring chances.
The first came in the 20th minute. Statesville had possession at midfield and got sloppy.
Wildcats' sophomore Taylor Waters stepped in front of a pass and had a clear breakaway. She forced Greyhounds keeper Natalie Stein to creep forward, and then blasted the ball in for a score.
Waters broke loose for another scoring chance in the 60th minute, but was denied. Stein made a gorgeous save in a one-on-one situation.
But the weather factored in. Due to a slow drizzle throughout the night, the wet ball squirted loose after the save. Steiner was on top of it and buried the follow-up.
"Statesville put us on our heels in the first 15 minutes," Mertes said. "Fortunately, we were able to recover in time."
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