CRESAPTOWN — In a display of grit and determination, a short-handed Calvary Christian squad stormed into the MDCC girls soccer semifinals with a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Grace Academy on Monday. Despite being down a player for the entire match—fielding just 10 athletes with no substitutes—the Eagles soared thanks to a sensational hat trick from Reagan Weeks.
Seeded third in the tournament with a 7-5 regular-season record, Calvary faced an early test of resilience. The Eagles struck first when Weeks converted a penalty kick with 28:50 left in the first half after a handball inside the box, sending them into halftime with a slim 1-0 lead. But head coach Scott Weeks knew his team needed more fire. "The Knights came to play, and they sure acted like they wanted this game more than us," he said. "I told the girls this wasn't a give-me game—they had to work harder in the second half since we were down a player."
Grace Academy, the sixth seed with a 2-10 league mark, answered the call. Shortly after halftime, Laykn Doan pounced on a loose ball just outside the goalie box, firing home the equalizer from eight yards to level the score at 1-1. For a moment, the underdogs seemed poised to pull off an upset.
The deadlock held until the 68th minute, when Reagan Weeks delivered a moment of brilliance. From long range on the right side, outside the 18-yard box, her shot sailed high through the air and nestled just beneath the crossbar, giving Calvary a 2-1 lead. It was a momentum-shifting strike that reignited the Eagles' spirit.
Just four minutes later, eighth-grader Millie Buckingham added insurance from the left side of the arch, pushing the lead to 3-1. Then, with five minutes remaining, Weeks sealed the victory with a low shot from the far left of the 18-yard box, curling into the far-right corner for her third goal of the night—her first hat trick of the season, and it came at the perfect time.
Calvary dominated offensively throughout, outshooting Grace 27-5 in shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Selah Livengood had a relatively quiet night, recording four saves. "We like it that way," coach Weeks said. "My goal was to get Selah out on the field some because she enjoys that too, but the game stayed too close to do that."
The victory propels Calvary into the MDCC tournament semifinals, where they'll travel to face No. 2 seed Heritage Academy (10-2) on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. It's a rematch of a regular-season thriller that ended 1-0 in Heritage's favor—and the Eagles are hungry for redemption.
In other MDCC action, Bishop Walsh cruised past Broadfording in the first round, with Aerianna Jackson leading the attack with seven points in a commanding performance.