Catlin leads Voyager Academy over Princeton in first round of girls soccer playoffs
Voyager Academy’s Audree Catlin scored her second goal – the game-winner – with less than six minutes remaining Tuesday night to lift the Vikings over Princeton 2-1 and into a second-round matchup with Whiteville in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A girls soccer playoffs.
Catlin, a freshman, notched her first goal of the night midway through the first half when she slipped past the Bulldogs (12-8) defense and tallied her second less than 90 seconds after Princeton’s Madison Adkins scored an equalizer late in the second half.
Vikings coach Victoria Smith said Catlin will continue her role as a playmaker as Voyager Academy (6-11) heads to Columbus County.
“Audree definitely has a good finishing ability and she has good speed,” Smith said after the game. “She makes a great forward and she knows how to work with her team. Her staying active is going to be key. They’re a young team and they know as long as they play together, beautiful things are going to happen.”
The Vikings will again be on the road in the second round and Smith said the goal is simple: keep winning.
“It’s like March Madness: It’s win and survive and keep playing,” she said.
Princeton coach Thomas Pilkington said the Vikings’ losing record doesn’t take into account the high level of competition in the North Central Athletic Conference.
“In my opinion, they’re the best team we’ve played all year,” Pilkington said. “That just speaks to the level of play in that conference.”
Pilkington lauded the play of Adkins, a senior, who brought the Bulldogs faithful to their feet with her game-tying goal with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation only to have momentum swing back to the visiting team with Catlin’s game-winner.
“She’s been my jack-of-all-trades all year,” Pilkington said of Adkins, who he pointed out leads the team in assists as a striker. “Shes’s extremely athletic with a ton of speed and has very dangerous throw-ins that put pressure on the back line.”
Pilkington said his team stayed true to its strategy all season of creating opportunities in space, but couldn’t convert a handful of missed chances into scores.
“We were chasing the ball a lot, but when we did get on it, we created chances,” he said. “We kept a strong line and countered as much as we could. That’s been our game the whole year. Tonight was just one of those nights when the ball didn’t go in the net.
This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 1:53 AM with the headline "Catlin leads Voyager Academy over Princeton in first round of girls soccer playoffs."