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Neither wind nor R-S Central could prevent Polk County from a successful season opener.

The defending West Regional finalists kicked off their 2025 schedule Thursday with a 3-0 triumph over R-S Central in a Mountain Foothills 7 Conference clash in G.M. Tennant Stadium.

A season opener played in 40-degree weather and 15-20 mph winds made for a chilly start to the season. It also took a bit of time for the Wolverine offense to warm up, as it put pressure on R-S Central’s defense from the start, but couldn’t get a good look at goal throughout much of the opening half.

Polk County freshman Reeve Carroll had a hand in all three goals, including the Wolverines’ first tally of the season, set up when Carroll drew a foul in the penalty area. Jessica Baird took the ensuing penalty kick and rifled a strike into the left corner of the net for a 1-0 advantage.

The Wolverines nearly doubled the lead early in the second half off a corner kick as Charley Dusenbury’s header caught the crossbar. But Polk finally did double its edge in the 65th minute as a Baird pass from outside the box was deflected by an R-S defender to Carroll, who took a touch and then struck a low drive from just outside the penalty area that took one bounce and skipped just inside the left post for that 2-0 margin.

Polk capped the scoring in the 71st minute as Carroll slid a pass from the right wing across the top of the box to Gabby Savaia, whose hard drive from a few yards inside the box just beat the R-S goalkeeper.

The Wolverine defense, meanwhile, largely kept the Hilltoppers (1-3-1, 0-1) from mounting a serious scoring threat, with goalkeeper Cate Brown collecting a handful of easy saves.

Polk County will travel Tuesday to face defending conference champion Hendersonville. Junior varsity play is slated to begin at 5 p.m., with the varsity to follow.