SHS girls soccer 2014 season preview
Head coach: Brittany Murdach (first season);
2014 record: 5-11, tied for 7th in Olympic League
Returners: Mattie Clark (sr.), Gretchen Happe (sr.), Abigail Hansted (jr.), Claire Henninger (so.), Abigail Jaeger (jr.), Adare McMinn (so.), Chloie Sparks (jr.)
Newcomers: Aylee Bennett (so.), Yana Hoesel (fr.), Audrey Hughes (so.), Jillian Hutchison (so.), Sara Penrose, Bobbi Sparks (fr.), Nathalie Torres (fr.), Erin Vig (jr.), Kelly Anders (sr.), Shayli Schuman (fr.) and Claire Payne (fr.), Raelynn Opdyke (fr.)
by MATTHEW NASH
Sequim Gazette
Winning is only part of the equation for the Lady Wolves soccer squad this year.
With only seven returning players and two of them seniors, first-year head coach Brittany Murdach is looking at different priorities for her squad.
“In terms of wins and losses, I don’t know what to expect,” Murdach said.
“I do expect an excellent work ethic and a 200-percent effort, a high level of commitment to the team and good level of focus. The girls are committed and I think they are having a lot of fun, which is an awesome combination, so we’ll let the chips fall where they may.”
Last year, the Lady Wolves finished 2-10 in the Olympic League and 5-11 for the season.
Senior midfielder Shelby Lott earned a spot on the all-league first team, pacing the Wolves with six goals and four assists on the season, and Maeve Harris, also a senior midfielder, was named to the league’s second team with four goals and six assists.
This season, Murdach plans to rely on her two captains, senior Matti Clark, central defender, and sophomore Adare McMinn, center midfielder, along with sophomore goalie Claire Henninger.
“She (Claire) took over halfway through last year and she had some big games,” Murdach said. “She’s a fierce competitor.”
Before summer started, Murdach gave the girls a six-days-a-week training packet and they participated in a Peninsula College soccer camp in August and training in July.
The girls also are coming into the season healthy after a string of injuries last year, Murdach said.
“I think it happened because we had girls who weren’t fit and the field we were playing on was super hard,” she said. “This year the girls came a bit more fit and we’re practicing at the (Albert Haller Playfields).”
The captains like the future of the squad, too.
“You can see the potential in their skill level,” Clark said of the newcomers.
McMinn agreed but said it’ll take them some time to gel this season.
“It’s going to be really good toward the end,” she said. “We are a young team but once we all start playing together more it’ll be easier. We’ll get used to how they play and they’ll get used to how we play.”
The captains like the prospects of two freshmen — Nathalie Torres and Raelynn Opdyke, too.
“Raelynn has some shots she’ll shoot from outside the box that just perfectly sail in,” Clark said.
“(Nathalie Torres) knows how to distribute balls and has a good mind for soccer,” McMinn said.
This early in the season though, going to districts or state isn’t on the girls’ minds.
“We’re a smaller town so we don’t have as many girls come out, so we’ve been focusing less on winning and more developing,” Clark said. “That’s our main goal. Hopefully we’ll see a big development in everyone so that we’re not plateauing as players but instead seeing that incline in skill.”
“If each of us improves, then it’ll just make the whole team better,” McMinn said.
