Wildcats Soccer looking to spark new excitement

By Stacey Myers
    Coach Aaron Harper is very excited and ready for the start of soccer season.  With another season upon us, the team is ready to get it going. Coach Harper has such a great group of girls from seniors to middle school. He has seen so many improvement over the past two years in all the players and he is eager to see how much further they progress individually and as a team over these next few months.  He feels like the girls are jelling as a team and will use that as a key focal point going forwards.    
    Coach Harper described his team this way,
    “From the roster standpoint, we’ll be led by seniors Elissa Blackaby and Lily Stephenson. Elissa anchors our defensive presence in the goal with Lily attacking offensively from an outside midfield position. Both bring leadership, desire, and willingness to the team that is translating to the younger players. We have a talented junior class that we’ll rely on defensively and offensively.  We’ll use Jae Caudill, Rachel Schaller, Jamie Danna, Maddie Sullivan, and Cailyn Harper to be the backbone through the middle of the back line and midfield.  From there they’ll be connecting with Ava Record, Avery Himes, Annie Eaton, and Addison Lindsey on the outside positions. Their technical ability to possess, connect passes, and work together will give us opportunities to score each game.  We also have a large sophomore class that will step up to challenge the upper class for playing time with a lot of them playing significant minutes. It’s been good to see new faces come in this year that give us additional talent that will help now and into the future.”
    Looking ahead at the season Coach Harper added,
    “We’ll be fielding a Varsity and JV team. Preseason training and games have given us a view of where we stand and areas we need to improve on. We competed very well in Bluegrass Games, winning one and narrowly losing another, while our third game was suspended due to the heat index. Players were put in various positions and formations to see what works best for the team come the season.”
    Coach Harper likes his team and hopes the community will as well,
    “I’m really excited for the season. I know the girls have worked hard and enjoyed the game thus far and only hope that excitement grows. We have a good time together competing, but also have a bit of fun. We’re playing a game and should remember that. I hope we can get the community and students to come out and support the girls and soccer programs.”
    The Ladycats have their first home game on Monday, Aug 8 at 7:30 p.m. and play again on Wednesday, Aug 10 at 7 p.m.  
    It’s going to be a great season to watch some Ladycat soccer!