~Castevens Stars In Wins~

Publication: Mt Airy News;
Date: Mar 21, 2006;
Section: Sports;
Page: 7

By THOMAS LESTER Sports Editor of The Mount Airy News ~

Mount Airy’s Lindsay Castevens got to show off a little bit of her versatility this weekend in her Challenge League soccer games. Castevens, a sixth grader at Mount Airy Middle School, played some forward and a little bit in net as the NTSC Stokes Spirits U12 team cruised to victories against teams from Wilkes County and Burlington. In the first game, against Wilkes on Saturday, Castevens came up big in the second half after playing goal in the first. With Stokes leading 2-1 after the break, Castevens scored three goals and assisted on two more scores as the Spirits rolled to an 8-2 victory. The team followed it up with a 6-0 win against Burlington on Sunday. In that game, Castevens started at forward and scored two goals while assisting another in the first 10 minutes of the contest to help Stokes pull out to a quick 4-0 lead. In the second half, Castevens played in goal and helped preserve the shutout in the Spirits’ victory. Castevens said that given the choice, she would rather play forward, but the admitted soccer fanatic — who has a shirt signed by this year’s UNC women’s soccer team — is fine playing just about anywhere. “It’s pretty fun,” Castevens said. “Sometimes I wish I couldn’t play goalie so I could play forward more.” Lindsay’s father, Shane Castevens, said spending time as keeper will help complete her game. “It makes you appreciate the whole game; you can learn a whole lot,” Shane Castevens said. “It’s like playing catcher in baseball. You’ll be a better fielder after you catch. She’s become a better player after she was a keeper.” Shane Castevens noted that the experience of playing the position has given his daughter a better understanding of how a goalkeeper thinks. “You have to understand the timing of a keeper, when they come out on a break,” he said. With a handful of games to go, the Spirits are in first place in the U12 league and they still have the league tournament and the State Cup to go. And Lindsay Castevens is enjoying every minute of it — whether she’s playing forward and attacking the goal or playing keeper and defending it. “It’s just really fun,” she said.

Submitted photo: Lindsay Castevens takes a shot during last weekend’s Triad Challenge League soccer action. Castevens scored five goals and played goalkeeper for the NTSC Stokes Spirits.