After winning the district championship, the girls soccer team is headed to playoffs for the seventh year in a row. The defensive line has been key to the team’s success this season. With a variety of players, the defense has played consistently well throughout the season.
“There’ll be some games where we’re really locked in, but even those games that we’re not locked in, we have the skill and ability to hold the opponent [scoreless] at the same time,” head girls soccer coach Jess White said.
The girls allowed only 12 goals on their way to finishing 18-3-1 this season. Only two of those goals were given up in district play. Tonight, the pressure will be on as the team takes on Whitehouse for the bi-district championship in Lufkin at 6 p.m.
White said the versatility found on the team allows for him to play multiple girls at a variety of positions on the field.
His backline has seen key contributions from seniors Erin McLain, Emma Green, Reese Shaw, Sienna Morales, Izzy Espinosa and Kayley Warr. Freshmen Sydney Ortiz and Alyssa Toppass have also seen considerable time with freshman goalkeeper Peyton Smithson.
“They each bring a different skill set,” White said. “They’re very technical or very aggressive, very disciplined. Those are areas where it provides me with a lot of options as a coach.”
Green said the biggest strength of the defensive line is its communication. With the majority of the players being seniors, the team has been able to play cohesively throughout the season.
McLain and Green played together for years in club soccer. They have formed a strong connection on and off the field that they said helped them in games this year.
“They’re very good at telling everyone like, ‘You do this,’ which we need to hear,” Shaw said. “Because in the heat of a game when there’s so much happening, a lot of the time it doesn’t cross our mind.”
The girls have also said encouragement from White has fueled them throughout their season, advising players on what they can work on and how to help the team improve.
“He pushes us to be better and he obviously gets on to us sometimes if we’re goofing off or whatever, but he’s like a built- in best friend,” Green said.
As the playoffs get underway, the defensive players said they expect an entirely new challenge as the skill-level of opponents increases.
“We are at a high level in our district so our district play a lot of the time doesn’t challenge us,” Shaw said.
The girls soccer team has reached the playoffs every year since the program started in 2008, and for the past two years the girls have advanced past the first round of the playoffs.
White has encouraged his players to put their best effort on the field tonight.
“Whatever the result is, leave it all out there and, you know, whatever happens happens,” White said. “We can’t control everything that happens. Whatever we can control, [we need to] control to give our best performance.”
