Western, Eastern Alamance Set for Key Girls Soccer Rematch

Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance will collide again Monday night at Western Alamance High School, and this rematch is carrying the clearest stakes in Alamance County girls’ soccer. Western enters as the reigning state champion, Eastern is trying to close the gap in Marisa Camuto’s first season, and the first meeting already showed how much is riding on every touch in the Mid-Carolina Conference.

Western handled the initial showdown 4-1 on March 25 at Eastern Alamance. Alison Thomas, Kayley Lee and Emma Gryniewski scored in that win, and goalkeeper Camden Markey made five saves. Western coach Camden Brooks called it the toughest game his team had faced after the Warriors had not been seriously challenged, while Camuto said the intensity helped her players even in defeat. That exchange now gives Monday’s matchup a sharper edge, with both programs sitting near the top of the league and every result shaping the chase for playoff position.

The Warriors have kept rolling. In the week covered by the roundup, Western beat Roxboro Person 9-0 and Bishop McGuinness 5-1, and the team also posted a 9-1 win over Southeast Alamance on April 22. Those results underline how quickly Western has separated itself from much of the field, even while Eastern remains one of the few county teams with the pace and organization to stay in the conversation.

Eastern has also responded with one-sided wins of its own. The Eagles blanked Roxboro Person 9-0 and then beat Southern Alamance 5-1, showing that Camuto’s group is still capable of producing the kind of scoring runs that can make a rematch much tighter than the first meeting. In a conference race where every goal matters, Eastern’s ability to rebound from the March 25 loss will be a key test against the standard-bearer in the league.

The broader county picture was just as active. Southeast Alamance shut out Cummings 9-0 and Southern Alamance 2-0 in girls’ soccer conference play, while Williams beat Cummings 9-0 and Graham 9-0. Those results show a wide-open spring across Alamance County, with several programs winning big and positioning themselves for the stretch run.

Boys’ lacrosse added to the week’s momentum. Williams overwhelmed Western Alamance 20-0 and Southeast Alamance 19-3, while Southern Alamance opened its season with a 10-4 win at Northwood behind J.C. Dehart’s three goals and three assists and A.J. Ray’s two goals and two assists. With Western and Eastern set to meet again, the girls’ rematch stands out as the county’s next major checkpoint, and it could tell a lot about how the conference race will finish.