Hendersonville flipped the script Thursday in the final installment of its trilogy with Polk County.
As with so many Memorial Day weekend releases, there were reused plot elements and an ending that left many in attendance unsatisfied.
Not for those on the home side of Dietz Field, though. Hendersonville built a 4-1 lead midway through the second half, then held off a determined Polk County rally and survived with a 4-3 triumph in a fourth-round matchup in the state 3A girls soccer playoffs.
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The encounter in many ways resembled the Wolverines’ 4-3 victory on the very same field less than three weeks ago. That episode featured Polk County racing to a 4-0 lead, dominating the match for more than a half, then holding off a late Hendersonville surge.
Thursday’s third meeting this season between the teams echoed that pattern. The Bearcats (21-2-1) led 2-1 at half, scored twice more in the second – then watched as the Wolverines (16-3-4) responded with two goals in the final eight minutes and frantically fought for an equalizer.
It was all the ways in which this match didn’t resemble the previous encounters, though, that ultimately decided the outcome. Hendersonville played with much more aggression – Polk freshman Kenley Savaia may still be feeling Bearcat defender Jordan Doyle on her back given that she never left it during the match – and focused on clogging and controlling the midfield area. The Bearcats rarely let Polk push forward to utilize its speed advantage, and even when the Wolverines did find space, they were unable to connect the long passes and long runs that served them so well this season.
“What they did was add extra bodies in the middle, and they upped their aggression,” said Polk County head coach Lennox Charles. “They upped their pressure on the ball and they had numbers in midfield. If Reeve (Carroll) touched the ball more than once, it wasn’t just one red shirt. It was a second one and at times going forward, a third one.
“In the first half it seemed like they won every loose ball. They got to the ball first every ball, and it’s one of those things were I told them, you can’t get out unless you get to the ball first.”
Control of possession meant Hendersonville kept the ball in Polk’s end of the field nearly all of the first half, and only the play of the Wolverine defense and senior goalkeeper Cate Brown kept the margin at 2-1 at the half.
Hendersonville struck first in the 10th minute as Amelia Hodge rifled a drive from 25 yards out into the upper left corner of the net. Polk immediately countered a minute later as Carroll’s long free kick from near midfield bounced into the penalty area and found Gabby Savaia, who placed the ball into the net to even the score.
The Bearcats regained the lead in the 22nd minute as Reagan Adams delivered a spot-on cross from the right flank, finding Mia Nitsche near the top of the six-yard box on the back side. Nitsche hammered home the pass to return the lead to Hendersonville.
The score remained at 2-1 until the 54th minute, when a foul call that Charles vehemently disputed gave the Bearcats a penalty kick. Addison Reid drilled the PK into the right corner to put Hendersonville up 3-1, and the Bearcats added another goal in the 70th minute for their 4-1 margin.
Earlier in the second half Charles made a tactical adjustment, moving senior Charley Dusenbury into the middle of the field and putting Molly Justice on the far wing. That move began to reap dividends as Polk began to win the midfield battle and push more into the Bearcats’ end of the field.
Carroll scored off a corner kick in the 73rd minute, and the Wolverines struck again in trademark maner with 1:46 remaining. Hurley Bell looped a pass down the right sideline, Kenley Savaia raced to be first to the ball, took it into the corner and then struck a cross that found Gabby Savaia, who redirected the pass into the left side of the goal. One goal down, 106 seconds left.
But the Bearcats expertly wasted most of that time and began to celebrate as tears and raindrops fell on the Wolverines’ side of the field.
“It’s kind of ironic that this one ended up completely flipped to the last one,” Charles said. “We just ran out of time like they ran out of time the last time. I think it just took us too long to adjust to what they were doing. They upped their level of play, and for probably 45 minutes we didn’t match it.
“We had opportunities to get Kenley in that we didn’t take advantage of, especially in the first half. The chances she got in the second half, we didn’t get her one of those in the first half. And we had opportunties if we had just played the right pass or played the timing better.
“But we hung in there. Putting Charley in the middle made a huge difference for us in the second half. She and Molly switching, and they both did really good jobs, that really made a difference. We just ran out of time.”
Hendersonville moves on to its first regional final since 2017, the Bearcats set to travel to Pine Lake Prep for the 3A West Regional title.
The Bearcats have just three seniors on the roster. So do the Wolverines.
Get the popcorn ready for spring 2027.
