Washington’s Heggie humbly rewriting the history books

Brandishing an inch-thick protective arm cast, Pam Pack forward Christian Heggie bobs and weaves through the Edenton Holmes defense, receiving a perfectly placed pass from one of her skillful midfielders only to deposit her third goal of the contest into the back of the net.

That goal was her fifth successful strike of the season, and came just seven days after the senior captain suffered a fractured arm during a 9-0 victory over Northeastern. A month later, Heggie is well on her way to rewriting the Washington record books.

“I just want to win. I don’t care who scores,” Heggie said. “I didn’t even really notice how many goals I had until someone told me, ‘Dude, you have a lot of goals.’ People ask me, but I have no idea how many goals I’ve scored.”

To answer that question, Heggie leads her team, the conference and, among NCHSAA high schools, the entire state of North Carolina with 33 goals, according to MaxPreps.com. On Friday against Northeastern, Heggie became the second player in school history to notch five goals in a game, falling two short of Beth Batchlor’s school record of seven set in 2011.

“She could break all single-season school records for scoring for boys and girls this year,” said head coach Ed Rodriguez. “Every year she’s played she’s had an injury. She broke her arm her freshman year, and then last year, she had a leg problem and missed 10 games. She’s a tough girl and plays with her emotions. When everything is working for her, she’s tough to beat.”

Despite playing in just 12 matches in 2013, Heggie tallied 10 goals and was the team’s second leading scorer. Even with a broken arm and a bulky, inconvenient arm cast, she’s continued her consistent production this season and been an integral part in the Pam Pack’s success.

Hegggie, along with senior teammates Alana Jefferson and Harley Hudson, was chosen by Rodriguez as one of the captains to lead the team, a decision that seems to have paid dividends down the stretch.

In its first year since being demoted to Class 2-A, Washington is 12-2 and has activated the nine-goal mercy rule against every Eastern Plains Conference team, thus far. Six games remain on the schedule, including a rematch against Class 4-A and former conference rival J.H. Rose on May 1.

“I feel like when we play Rose in two weeks, I think we’re going to give them a pretty good challenge because we’re moving the ball well and have great teamwork now,” Heggie said. “Sometimes at the beginning of the game we’re kind of slow, but as soon as we get into a rhythm, it’s like pass, pass, pass. Everyone is making runs, getting open and calling for the ball. I think we’re doing pretty well.”

The humble Pam Pack captain believes her team has what it takes to make a run at regionals and states.

“I just want my team to win,” Heggie said. “If I had zero goals right now, I’d be perfectly fine because we’re still at the top of our conference and doing great as a team. That’s all I care about.”

As for Heggie’s post-high school plans, she intends to enroll at Guildford College in Greensboro and hopes to contribute goals to a team that went just 4-15 last season.