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Long road to county soccer title
Seniors learn, grow together
ROACHDALE -- The North Putnam girls' soccer team has seven members who help form the backbone of the team, and they have spent a lot of time on the field together.
"A lot of us came in our freshman year and hadn't played before," said Kaelynn Abner, the team's scoring leader who will play collegiately at the College of the Cumberlands in Tennessee next fall. "I tried to get my friends to do it, and we were all recruiting people. Almost all of us have started since our freshman year."
Abner noted the Cougars have gotten better every year.
"Each year we get ahead on Greencastle," she said. "Last year, we tied them in the regular season and then beat them in the sectional on penalty kicks."
The Cougars continued their success, both overall and against the rival Tiger Cubs, last Tuesday by recording a 1-0 victory that gave North Putnam the Putnam County championship.
With the win, the Cougars took possession of the Golden Shoe traveling trophy.
"I hadn't even seen it before," said Abner of the fairly new trophy that she thinks her school had only won once before. "I don't think it has ever meant so much."
Abner scored the only goal of the match midway through the second half.
"Lauren Freije sent the ball toward me, and I was on the last line," she recalled. "I freaked out when I saw it coming. I said 'you can't miss this'."
Abner shares the belief of her teammates that such success was possible this year.
"We hoped and thought we would do well," she said. "We all knew this was going to be our last year, and that we wanted to make it the best we can.
"We wanted to be the best team ever at North Putnam and leave an impact."
Fellow senior Emily Henninger plays center back for the Cougars, and is also happy with our her final season has gone so far -- despite the absence of their new trophy on the night of the game.
"We were really upset that it wasn't there and we couldn't have it afterwards," she said, "but it came back to Cougar Country and that's where it belongs."
Henninger said the team's first match of the season was a good starting point, as Cascade has a strong program and has been a perennial nemesis for the Cougars.
"That has always been one of our tough losses," she said. "That match was crazy, but that got us all excited and we knew we could do this."
Henninger noted that getting the shutout in the conference match against Greencastle was important for tiebreakers.
"I'm excited for the rest of the season," she said. "Every opponent we face, we need to go in and think we can win, because we can win. We're always going to put up a fight no matter what."
Senior forward Christa McRoy admits to being nervous throughout the whole day in anticipation of the Greencastle match.
"Every year we've gotten to the county match, I thought we had a chance to win, but we never had," she said. "This year I knew we had a good chance."
McRoy noted that both of the team's defenses were working hard to get a shutout, and was thankful that her good friend and teammate was in the same uniform to provide the match's lone point.
"It was really tough defensively," she said, "but then Kaelynn got that breakaway and got a goal."
McRoy enjoys the advantage of having Abner nearby.
"Playing alongside her really pushes me to be a better player and a better forward," she said. "We work well together, and a lot of our goals and assists come from each other.
"I have a good time playing with her and being her teammate, and I think we make each other better."
McRoy shares the enthusiasm of her teammates about the remainder of the season.
"I think we have a great shot at winning the conference, maybe even going undefeated," she said. "In the sectional last year we got to the second round, and we are hopeful of winning this year."