Roberson’s Mary Laci Motley (6) is surrounded by Asheville High defenders during Monday night’s game.
ASHEVILLE – Roberson junior Mary Laci Motley is the quintessential “track and field” athlete.
Meaning that whether it’s the track or the soccer field, her speed is a problem for opponents.
Motley chased down a few through balls from her teammates Monday and turned them into a hat trick at Memorial Stadium.
The Rams were ahead of Asheville High, 3-1, on a stormy night when the game was called with 11 minutes, 18 seconds to go in regulation. There was enough soccer played for the result to stand, officially giving Roberson (17-1-3, 11-0-0) the Mountain Athletic Conference’s outright championship.
The Rams have outscored their MAC opponents, 66-2, this spring.
“To be in this position, undefeated in the conference after 11 games, I never thought it would have been possible at the start of the season,” Roberson coach Rob Wilcher said.
“Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Motley has now accounted for a team-high 19 goals and Monday was the second time that she has scored three in one game.
The first two were pure breakaways, shedding her marker with 4:55 remaining in the first half and 36:01 left in the second. A corner kick set up the third goal, allowing Motley to clean up a scrum deep in the box.
Motley is an interesting case, athletically. She is not only one of the mountains’ top strikers, but has run Western North Carolina track’s fastest-reported times in the 200-meter dash (26.22) and 400-meter dash (58.03) this spring. Motley was scheduled to compete for the Rams at Tuesday’s Buncombe County track meet hosted by Erwin.
“It’ll be interesting to see how my legs hold up,” Motley said.
“It’s tough to improve in track (time-wise) when you split the two sports. It can get crazy at times.”
Roberson’s Amanda Pritchard.
Motley said that she and the Rams soccer team were glad to put the MAC championship in their rear-view mirror.
Senior Night for Roberson is Wednesday against visiting Reynolds (16-2-4, 8-1-2) and the NCHSAA playoffs start May 11.
“(Asheville) is a great team and they put up a good fight,” Motley said.
“We held our own, especially our defense, and my teammates did a great job of putting me in position to score. It’s crazy to think how far this team has come. When I was a freshman, I think we had lost nine seniors from the year before.”
Abby Haines, Caroline Hemphill and Amanda Pritchard were the Rams players who assisted Motley’s goals. Roberson held a 12-7 advantage in shots and keeper Lily Talley made two saves.
Once the first half was complete, the game was delayed about 90 minutes for lightning. It was only restarted with the premise that another weather incident would result in the end.
Kaileigh Mora put a goal on the board for the Cougars (13-4-3, 7-2-2) just 8:55 into the second half.
Wilcher is retiring after this school year with more than 1,000 combined boys and girls wins. As is becoming commonplace, he was recognized in pregame statements from the public-address announcer on Monday, even though the Rams were on the road.
“It”s truly been an honor to compete against Asheville. There have been some great battles over the years and tonight was no different,” Wilcher said.
“It got slick out there after the rain, but Mary Laci did a great job finishing off her chances.”
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