The Bearcats improved to 5-3 overall, 3-0 in league matches. Polk County dropped to 6-1, 2-1.

How it happened: Hendersonville took a 1-0 lead just more than six minutes into the match. The Bearcats’ Aubrie Retzbach played a crossing pass that rolled past her intended target and part of Polk’s defense. Senior forward Julia Ledbetter surged forward to take the loose ball some 25 yards from goal, dribbling directly in for a point-blank chip into the net and the early Bearcat lead.

Hendersonville scored its second goal in the 27th minute as Retzbach got possession deep in the left corner, hitting a cross that bounced once in the box before a charging Maddie Cable redirected the pass just inside the right post for the 2-0 lead.

Next up: Polk County returns home Wednesday to face Chapman in a non-conference match, with junior varsity play slated to begin at 5 p.m. and varsity to follow.