Girls prep soccer: Workman, Spartans looking for another ring for Greenbrier East
· Yahoo Sports
Several girls on the Greenbrier East soccer team know what it’s like not just to compete at the state level, but to scale the mountain and leave as a state champion.
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Just last academic year, the Spartans won state titles in basketball and track and field. On Saturday, they would like to add soccer to the list of title runs completed.
“It’s crazy, I literally said I need two rings on my finger,” said senior striker Ava Workman, who was on that champion basketball team.
The basketball team went undefeated on its run to a state title. For the soccer team, the shoe will be on the other foot when it faces East Fairmont for the Class AAA state championship at approximately 1 p.m. at Cline Stadium at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Sports Complex in Beckley.
East Fairmont is not only undefeated at 23-0, but has not lost a match since Aug. 27, 2024, 4-2 to Charleston Catholic. The Bees’ win streak now stands at 68.
The Bees have won back-to-back state championships, Class AAA last season and Class AA-A in 2024.
Ironically, it was East Fairmont that the Spartans defeated for the basketball title in March. Just as there will be a few Spartans on the pitch that won that day on the hardwood, so, too, will there be players who were on the court for East Fairmont.
“I know of two of them,” Workman said, “but I’m not sure of anybody else.”
The top two contributors for the Bees did not play basketball, but everyone in soccer circles knows them well.
Junior forward Carly Manchin had a hat trick in Thursday’s 9-1 semifinal win over Charleston Catholic. That performance put her at 51 goals on the season, a number that leads the state.
Manchin also leads the Bees with 24 assists.
Junior Lily Larnerd is second with 36 goals and 19 assists.
Sara Noechel has 12 goals and 17 assists. Caroline Corwin has 18 assists and Annabelle Skidmore 11.
The Spartans’ championship-pedigree group is led by sophomore Lyla Brown with 27 goals and 14 assists. Workman follows with 25 goals and freshman Mia Furlong with 16. Both have 13 assists.
The teams met in Fairmont on Oct. 3, with the Bees taking a 2-1 victory. It was a rare loss for the Spartans, who go into the title game with a 20-3-1 record.
They understand the challenge, but knowing what it takes to win a championship helps.
“I think we are very well prepared,” Workman said. “I think we really do have a good shot of beating them, and I think I have a lot of confidence in my team in playing hard and getting the dub.”
“Ava just gives us an extra gear, and Kiana (McClung), and then Avery Thompson, with (running) track and stuff,” head coach Mike Dotson said. “If you watch her back there, sometimes she’ll be 20 yards out position and she’ll make it up. She just has that little fight in her. Effort … we said we can’t really teach it; it’s got to be in you. And I think she’s got it.
“So it’s just really nice for all three of my captains to be seniors and lead all state champions in the past.”