Lake Norman Publications

Crusaders draw motivation from boys team’s success



Senior Anna Bowman winds up for a throw during Christ the King’s scoreless draw against Lake Norman March 13. /Matt Chapman

HUNTERSVILLE – The Crusaders reached the soccer mountaintop last season, delivering the first state championship in a girls sport in the history of Christ the King athletics. There’s always concern of complacency creeping in once a team fulfills its ultimate goal, but with 11 seniors returning for one final run, there’s plenty of motivation driving the 2023 team.

“Team chemistry is so important off the field because it leads to better teamwork when we’re out there competing,” senior midfielder Abby Olean said. “That’s what carried us last year on top of the skill that we all have, so we feel like we can go pretty far again.”

Head coach Bob Dubiel, who led Christ the King to the 1A title in his first year on the job, noted the competitiveness, not only among teammates, but also with the school’s boys team, which accomplished the feat of winning back-to-back state championships with a dominant season in the fall. 

“This senior class, there’s 11 of them, and they’re literally battling all the time among themselves in practice for playing time so I’m not worried about complacency,” he said. “And honestly, we’re so competitive just within our school and the boys team went out and won two, so we’ve got to get a second one.”

“Definitely,” senior Anna Bowman said when asked whether the success of the boys team serves as motivation. “They won back-to-back and now it’s our turn.” 

Senior forward Katie Reyes beats a Lake Norman defender during a March 13 match. /Matt Chapman

While there’s plenty of returning talent from last year’s championship-winning team, the Crusaders are replacing four senior captains from a year ago, including key midfield players like Bella Perry, Daniela Evans and Nicole Bellar, as well as keeper Whitney Lorio. 

“We’ve kind of had to rebuild our midfield, but that’s another area where our team chemistry has helped pull things together,” Bowman said. 

“We’ve known each other since we were young so now in our final year our priority has been including the younger players to build that team chemistry and then our skill will take us from there,” Olean added. 

Among the new faces taking over key roles on this year’s team is junior Elizabeth Navola in goal. Navola spent 310 minutes as the netminder last season, saving 18 shots and allowing four goals while spelling Lorio. Through four games this season, Navola has posted three clean sheets as the new starting keeper. 

There’s another name to watch this season and it’s a familiar one. Freshman Erin Reyes is the sister of senior Katie Reyes and they play alongside one-another at the two forward positions. 

Unlike their Huntersville neighbors from Lake Norman Charter, which won last year’s 3A state championship behind a dynamic attack, Christ the King hangs its hat on defense. Never was that more apparent than against Woods Charter in the championship game, when the Crusaders held 50-goal-scorer Leyla Noronha and her Wolves teammates scoreless to cap an incredible season. 

“Obviously, playing defense and sitting back isn’t the most fun, but as a smaller school we’d be gassed by the end of the game if we were always in attack mode, so we’ve learned to sit in and take advantage of our back line, which is super strong,” senior Riley Milligan said. “With our back line and then our defensive and attacking midfielders, that’s the powerhouse of our team so we play to our strengths.”

Christ the King’s defensive prowess was on full display March 13, playing 4A Lake Norman to a scoreless draw on the road. The Crusaders are 2-1-1 after completing the non-conference portion of their schedule, with league play set to begin Monday, March 20, at Lincoln Charter.

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