All Good Things...

Congratulations on a fine season, team. You have improved so much since last year and even since the beginning of this year that the coaching staff is already planning for next year's run in the Regional Tournament. Congratulations go out to Aggy Johnson and Heather Stidham, whose play has earned them 2nd Team All-District honors. Congratulations also go out to Stephanie Floyd, Nikki Donnelly, Michelle Aldinger, and Katrina Rouse for making Honorable Mention.

I know that the district tournament game against KG didn't go as well as you would have hoped, but KG played the best game I have ever seen them play in my five years at SHS. You ran into a buzzsaw, and once things got bad, it was hard to recover. Also, there was the always-questionable officiating, which led to some blood and some anger. As always, you played under control and represented your school with pride and dignity. Kudos to Aggy and to Luttrell for scoring in the 7-2 defeat.

Don't forget to turn in your gear, exit interviews, and banquet sheets to Coach Schafer before May 30th. Here's to building on the success of this year.

"Reign" Out

What a night for the SHS girls soccer program.  JV began the festivities by welcoming in two new players to ensure 11 healthy bodies on the field.  Things got started quickly for the Knights, as Kelsey Link earned Chik-Fil-A from Gregg by netting a goal off an assist from Livelsberger,who was playing forward for the first time this season.  Kelsey then returned the favor to Lauren Taylor, who scored her team-leading 6th goal of the season.  In between, a red card was given to a Caroline player for throwing a punch.  Cooler heads prevailed, and when Caroline chipped in a goal on a breakaway, the Knights countered with a goal from Livelsberger, connecting on a pass from LT to end the scoring.  Celia and Lauren Monroe played awesome defense, and Perry made seven saves to earn the win in goal.  Congratulations, JV, well done!

The Varsity game began with an emotional Senior Night celebration, where we honored our three Seniors - Olivia Sullivan, Lauren Stewart, and Katrina Rouse - for their hard work and dedication to the program.  Gregg Brooks also got surprised with an announcement and a polo for all that he has done as a manager and scorekeeper for the team.  He will be hard to replace!  Finally, the team honored their fallen teammate, Michelle Bonner, by presenting her jersey to her parents.  This was a class move by the program, and it was greatly appreciated by the Bonners.  Because of the festivities, the team was forced to begin without a warm-up.  Then, after about 12 minutes of play, a flash from a camera spooked the officials into a 30-minute lightening delay.  Leave it to the Lady Knights to find new and creative ways to entertain themselves, working on both the human knot and a human pyramid.  Once the game restarted, however, the team was all business.

Michelle Aldinger, Nikki Donnelly, and Aggy Johnson all scored twice and added an assist for their play.  Dinger's goal was especially sweet, coming off of a header on a cross from the right side.  Aggy continuously broke the ankles of the Caroline defenders, and Donnelly got a goal WITH HER RIGHT FOOT.  Tiffany Hare also scored a goal by being "Johnny-on-the-spot" and added an assist as well.  Lauren Luttrell earned some time at forward by netting a goal from her midfield position.  The defense, led by strong efforts from Katrina, Cook, Olivia, Kaytie O., and "Nine Toes" Kreutzer held Caroline WITHOUT A SHOT ON GOAL FOR THE ENTIRE GAME.  Lauren managed to stave off boredom to collect the shutout win, giving her 2.5 for the season.  Megan Hesse did her best to get the last goal before the slaughter rule came into effect, as did newly christened forwards Katrina and Olivia.

After such an emotional roller coaster, the team earned its first slaughter-rule victory in over two years, and did it in impressive fashion.  In the celebration afterwords, Coach Schafer sported a newly-fashioned silly-string hairdo, and the team was able to get Katrina with the Gatorade bath.  My guess is that Stewart and Olivia lucked out that there was only one cooler available!  The best part of the evening may have been the fact that, despite the downpour, the team had enough energy to play go-to-goal before the lights were turned out.  Whoever let Gregg score needs to work on their keeper skills!  It was, in my opinion, the perfect end to a wonderful night, one filled with love, tears, and joy, which is the way Michelle would have wanted it.

Now on to the District Tournament, and a KG team facing a group of Lady Knights that are on a roll, and are playing their best soccer of the year.

Quick Note on the Courtland game

The team went into the game against Courtland Wednesday without the benefit of seeing the JV team play due to suspensions.  It was also without the "Blosser-stopper," Stephanie Floyd.  Within the game itself, there were several subplots:  Could the team rally behind the underdog mentality?  Could playing a team while missing several players unite the Knights?  Would there be a "hangover" from playing Courtland a second time in two weeks, especially after playing their hearts out the first time?  Alas, when it rains, it pours.  The best thing about this game is that it isn't the end of the season, and if we play our cards right, we could face them again.  Have a short memory, ladies, and look to the future.

The Fun of... Losing?

Both the JV and Varsity teams did something very important last night that had nothing to do with the score: they both appeared to have fun. This often gets lost in the pressure that players place on themselves as well as the expectations of the coaches, but in the end, if you aren't enjoying yourself then soccer becomes less of a game and more of a job. There have been some peaks and valleys to the season this year, but as always your coaches are proud of your effort and progress this year.

In the JV game, the Knights held the highest scoring team in their district to 5 goals, with Livelsberger making an incredible 27 saves. Jasmine Gray continues her strong play, even getting a couple of breakaway opportunities in the second half. Michelle Armstong also has come a long way in her development. Perry keeps working hard, and Stewart found time to get some hard contact in with the Chancellor forwards. Keep working hard ladies, you've come so far this year.

The Varsity game was a high-intensity affair. At the half, the score was only 3-0, and the Chancellor players were clearly frustrated at the signature Spotsy physical play. Aggy gets high marks for dropping into a more defensive-minded role and taking on Korri Iracane. Stidham made 16 clean saves, and Kreutzer returned to the field with a club on her arm and an intensity that showed in her defense. Raven and Hare also played well at midfield, and made some very good runs during the second half.

Afterwords, Aggy got the token "Birthday Shower." Remember that Kate turns 16 today!

Way to go ladies. You have really exceeded expectations this season, and it was enjoyable for the coaches to see you having fun last night. Keep up the good work.

A Game of Inches

It is hard enough to defeat a soccer team when you have to worry about 11 players on the other side of the field. As both teams found out on Tuesday, fighting against the elements, referees, and bad luck can make the job next to impossible.

The JV team lost 1-0 on a game called 5 minutes into the second half due to lightning. Michelle Armstrong played particularly well, and has come a long way in a very short amount of time. The KG goal was scored early on, but Livelsberger settled down to stop 8 out of the 9 shots she faced, and the defense definitely picked up its intensity after the goal was scored. Most of the team felt that a few more minutes was all they needed to get a goal on the board, but alas, mother nature wouldn't cooperate.

The Varsity game was started on time following the delay, in which the team decided to participate in some team-building exercises. The game started with a lot of intensity on both sides, and a couple of questionable foul calls (a yellow card against Gibson, and a PK awarded on a foul in the box by Hare) gave KG scoring opportunities, but each time the defense stepped up to deny the Foxes. A series of unlucky bounces and touches left SHS with plenty of possessions in the KG area but with no goals to show for their efforts. The second half continued much in the same way, but another questionable card on Gibson led to a quick possession in the SHS goal area, and with a fortunate (for KG) bounce a dribbling goal was placed in the corner by the Foxes. A furious charge late netted no goals, and SHS left with a heart-breaking loss. The team played well enough to win, deserved to win, but unfortunately the score didn't reflect this.

Kudos to Stidham for stopping 9 of 10 shots, the entire defense who played hard minutes with very few subs, Aldinger for a sweet flick off of a cross that almost led to a goal, and to the entire midfield for working the ball into the offensive set often and effectively.

Stung

When you are playing your third game in three days, you are bound to be exhausted.  So when Friday's scores came in against James Monroe, it was obvious which team had played two games in two consecutive days prior to Friday (and had originally expected to play a fourth game on Tuesday).  The JV score was 3-1, with Jasmine Gray scoring her first goal of her SHS career on a sweet upper-90 shot.  The defense struggled with positioning most of the game, probably as a result of being tired and having to recover so much.  Megan Stewart also managed to pick up SHS's first card of the season, a yellow for what appeared to be clean shoulder-to-shoulder contact.  Rest up, ladies, because there are three games scheduled for next week as well.

The Varsity game was destined to be a letdown after the simply amazing performance on Thursday night.  However, the Knight pride and signature tough defense still stepped up and kept the score close at halftime, with the Jackets leading 2-0.  Things seemed to go from bad to worse when we lost Katie Brewer to an apparent concussion, the second defender in two days to be knocked out due to injury.  Stidham played well in goal, and the defense continued to log heavy minutes without a break.  The midfielders and forwards, in particular the left side, seemed to be cursed with a series of unlucky breaks.  The offense as a whole moved the ball well and stuck to the game plan, but could not get a lucky touch or ball to go our way.

As I told the team on the bus, this game does little for our standings and our positioning, and should not be dwelled upon.  We are currently fifth in our district, but with a win on Tuesday, we would move into fourth and set ourselves up nicely for a home game in the first round of the district tournament.  Continue to improve, continue to work hard, but also take time to have fun and enjoy the "beautiful game."

Turning the Corner...

Someone once said that the character of a person is not shown in how they appear in victory, but how they carry themselves in defeat. Thursday night was a perfect example of this. In the JV game, the 7-0 loss does not show how hard the ladies once again played. Playing again without two starters on defense, the team continued to play hard, with several of the players in new or different positions. Livelsberger did a great job of lining up the defense, and Chelsea White made her return to the team as well. The coaches are always impressed at how far this team has come in so short a time. Keep in mind that you are still in the thick of things with a 3-3-2 record, and there is still a lot of soccer left to be played.


Anyone who left before the start of the Varsity game missed perhaps the finest performance this coach has seen out of this program in my five years of coaching here. For the first time in these five years, SHS did not get slaughter-ruled by Courtland. Every player brought their "A" game from the opening whistle, and while Courtland may have won 6-0, the team did not roll over for the district-leading Cougars. Stephanie Floyd was simply outstanding while defending NC State-bound Kara Blosser, frustrating and terrorizing the district's highest scorer. Stidham played by far her best game in goal, making several athletic and aggressive saves. Katrina, Katie, Cook, Gibson, and Olivia all played great defense, cohesive beyond anything I have seen out of this team. This also includes Kreutzer, who spent the night in the emergency room with a fractured bone in her arm/hand. She was clearly and blatantly fouled by a Courtland player, who shoved Kreutzer to the ground from behind, yet she did not lose her cool. It is also important to note that despite "packing it in" we were able to get several good scoring opportunities in our offensive sets. This is due by the non-stop hustle and energy given by our midfielders and forwards.


Clearly, Spotsy showed that we are not a team that will roll over for anyone, including the first place team in the district. Listening to the comments made after the game can really sum up the effort shown by the team. The prevailing thought from the fans and parents was that the team had improved not only since last season but also from the beginning of the year until now. I have heard that even players on Courtland's team were tired at the end of the game. We gave them a good run, but we cannot be satisfied with merely preventing the slaughter-rule loss. We must continue to play with that swagger and intensity throughout the rest of the season. If we can do that, and stay helathy, I know I wouldn't want to play us in the district tournament.


Last night, I was proud to wear red and white.

Rounding in to shape...

Congratulations to both teams for their dominating performances Wednesday night. JV instituted some changes in their roster, and the results showed quickly. Jasmine Gray, playing forward for the first time, zigged and zagged her way to her finest performance to date. Kelsey Link, who has proven so adept at getting others involved with her passing, took a sweet assist from Lauren Taylor to score her first goal of the season. Ashley Crisp, who has worked hard at forward all season long, also earned her first goal on an assist from Jessie Strong. Lauren Taylor continues to shine in the midfield, battling several injuries and the occasional W & L defender to maintain control, get her teammates involved, and taking a little time out to score a goal of her own. Lauren Monroe has really improved since the beginning of the season as well.

In the Varsity game, the coaches challenged the team to score goals early and often, and the team did not disappoint. Out of 30 shots on goal, Aggy Johnson, Kate Sullivan, Nikki Donnelly, and Michelle Aldinger all placed shots in the back of the net. Aggy, Kate, and Stephanie Floyd also earned assists. Aldinger's goal out of the air on a sweet cross from Sullivan even earned praise from W & L's coaches. Rachel Gibson returned to the fray at sweeper in the second half, and Heather (The Rappin' Keepa) Stidham and Lauren Stewart each made one save to split the shutout win. The offense is starting to click, and the defense, led by another strong effort from Mindy Cook, seem to have discovered their identity. Kudos to Olivia Sullivan for her play in the second half at stopper, as well Raven and Donnelly's pinpoint passing from the left side.

Both teams are now over .500 and are building towards the playoffs. Tiger Woods once said the best thing about today is that it can be better than yesterday. Keep up the good work and GO KNIGHTS!