As the women’s soccer players walked onto a bus full of their teammates headed off to one of their many away games of that season, the atmosphere felt different. For only the second time in ten years, the team successfully made it to the play-offs in back-to-back seasons. Looking around, the team was in its own world as they began their trek to Asheville High School to compete in the playoffs for the tenth time.
The beginning of the season was marked by overwhelming success, which was crucial to their journey to the state playoffs. In the four years that Coach Corbin Kopetzky has led them, the team has made incremental improvements each year. This season marked the most successful start for women’s soccer in 17 years. These girls have worked tirelessly to achieve their goals, and when asked what they were most proud of, Lanna Robinson, AuBrie Pulaski, and Kopetzky all agreed that it was beating rivals East Forsyth and Mount Tabor.
For context, the women’s soccer team has only beaten Mount Tabor four times in the history of the program, twice with Koptesky as coach. What made beating East Forsyth so monumental for the girls was winning on their home field for the first time. The success of the team can be attributed to the overall strength of the varsity team as a whole, consisting of one of the strongest defensive lines in years. Multiple strikers are making school history, including junior Lanna Robinson, who scored twenty-one goals this season and tied for fourth for most goals in a season in school history.
When asked about her success, Robinson said she is most proud of simply making history.
“I am fortunate to have been a part of two of the ten playoff berths in Davie history,” Robinson said. “Selfishly, I am proud that my name is going down in history books for the most goals scored.”
Throughout this season, Robinson, like some of the other girls, dealt with injuries that impacted their season for the worse. Freshman Gracyn Coleman was one such player who suffered one of the worst injuries an athlete can face: tearing her ACL.
“When I got injured, I knew automatically I was out for a long time,” Coleman said. “It was hard to deal with mentally and physically at first, and still sometimes is. Talking to my brother, who also faced the same injury, but in his senior year, I realized that I got lucky at the time my injury happened… It does suck that I won’t be able to do much for a few months and I’ve already missed a bunch, but having my friends and family there with me along the way has helped a lot.”
Through these trials, the women’s soccer team has formed a lasting relationship with Anthony Lang, Davie High School’s athletic trainer. Injured athletes can go to Anthony to seek treatment and physical therapy to rehabilitate to their full potential, and many of the players did. The relationship these girls created can be seen on and off the field. At the home games, after the team is done warming up, Anthony is normally out there, and the team greets him with smiles on their faces.
Speaking of smiles, the overall performance of the season is something to smile about. The team advanced to the playoffs for the tenth time, earning fifth in the conference with one of the best finishes that Davie has seen in twenty years. Along with this best finish, Aubrie Palaski, Jaden Sink, and Lanna Robinson were all nominated for the CPC all-conference and the NCSCA all-region. On top of these honors, Sink, who has committed to Miami of Ohio, won the CPC defensive player of the year and the NCSCA all-state award. Pulaski, like Sink, has committed to playing college soccer at Montreat College. These girls have worked incredibly hard, and their future is bright as the program progresses.
