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GIRLS’ SOCCER PREVIEWS: Greencastle adjusts formation, attitude in search of sectional hardware; North Putnam welcomes back Bender to lead Cougars
Greencastle
After a slow start turned into a wild finish that nearly ended with a WIC title in the 2021 season, the Tiger Cubs put the clamps on the conference in 2022, sweeping through the league to win the conference crown and finished 11-3-3 overall, though the final loss was a hard one to take as Greencastle fell in the Cascade Sectional final to the Cadets.
With only three seniors graduating, Tiger Cub head coach Scott Monnett said the time was right to make a change in formation ahead of the new campaign, switching to a 3-5-2 look this season.
“So far it’s good,” Monnett said about early practices in the new formation. “The 3-5-2 is not the easiest of formations to do unless you have the right athletes to do it with; looking at the roster, we have the roster to do it. The girls have embraced the formation and are excited to play it as well.
“The defensive part is the one that we had to figure out what to do there but, overall, we’re good. The incoming freshmen played it some during the spring season so we’ve looked at where we can slot them in during the season as well.”
With all three graduates in Stephanie Morales, Elise Lausee and Lilly Barnhart playing in the defensive line, Monnett said there was a lot of consideration that had to go in to the new line, though having daughter Bella Monnett in goal again was a boost.
“(Bella) and I have talked a lot about this year,” Monnett said. “Her soccer IQ has jumped a lot since her first year and, being my daughter, we’ve talked a lot about formation, what we want to do on the field and she knows that her responsibilities, not only having a virtually new group in front of her but a youthful group with out as much varsity experience, means she needs to be vocal and be a senior leader for that group.
“The nice thing is, Lauren Dibble is a three-year starter, Kylie Silbert has played a large majority of her three years and they will be important for us.”
Dibble and Silbert will be joined by Clare Langdoc in the defensive line early on according to Monnett.
“The key is to work in unison,” Monnett said. “There has been a learning curve to this.
“Clare played a lot last year up front and we’ve moved her back to the defense as she is a good athlete. What we want the outside backs to do is move the ball up the field, so we’ve been looking at players that fit that profile and teaching them what to do schematically.”
Along the midfield will be a host of familiar names in Ali Dobbs, Evie Briones, Aleeyah Johnson, Sarah Simmerman and Penny Cummings.
“The wings will be a platoon if we’re playing up top like I want to,” Monnett said. “I’ve been impressed by Sarah as a freshman with her length and athleticism, improving the position from where I thought we would be. Up until this year, I haven’t had as many left-footed players as I have, which has been a blessing.
“Across the middle, you’ll see Sarah, Evie, Ali, Aleeyah, Penny, Clare and a few others across that midfield and wing area. The thing I told (assistant coach Sam Call) is, outside of (Bella) and a couple others, we’re versatile enough we could have somebody at right back, sub them and move that back to forward. It’s going to be fun to tinker with the formation as we go.”
Enforced changes in the summer led to freshman Emily Hunsinger getting time in the forward line and turning into a hit up front while Monnett said seniors Carissa Trigg and Riley Wainman would also get plenty of time along the forward line.
“Injuries have hit us a bit up top so we’ve had some younger players up there,” Monnett said. “Emily was our leading scorer in the summer and she’s really embraced playing up front.
“Carissa and Riley have been starters at different times for us as well. If we stick with a high-press style, it’s an area where we’ll see our most platooning take place. We’re going to have to attack some of our more challenging teams while in games we can control, we can dominate things up high.
“My goal is that if we’re getting several shutouts, it’s not because we have 10 saves but because we dominated further up field,” Monnett added.
Other members of the roster include Avah Johnson, Ella Tischer, Lilly Welch, Jacey Call, Charlie Martoglio, Eva Battin, Emma Smiley, Laurel Brown, Bailey Friars, Ava Williamson, Izzy Camara and Micah Cantonwine.
With most of the starters from the 2022 squad returning, Monnett said the loss in the sectional final had been a rallying cry for the upcoming season, not only to find a way to get back to the final and win a sectional title but to also use the loss as a way to change the atmosphere around the team.
“One of the things I’ve tried to push this year is that no one has any expectation for us that is greater than our own expectations,” Monnett said. “The 1-0 loss to Cascade in the sectional championship hurt and was a motivating factor in changing how we went into the summer.
“We’ve used 1-0 as a mantra: one handball, one missed shot, one bad tackle, etc. and that will ramp up as we prepare for Covington. We’ve talked about walking in with a swagger as I feel nerves might have gotten us last year.
“We’ve played music in practice at a very loud level as, when we get into a game situation, I want us to be able to communicate so well,” Monnett added. “We want to repeat as conference champs and we feel 100 percent confident in our ability to reach the final again, though a lot of things still have to fall into place.
“We’ve also got some unspoken goals as well. It was midway through the year last year when we said we’re a good team; this year, we’ve told them in the summer we’re a good team. We have big goals and we’ll see how this thing plays out.”
North Putnam
A bumpy season for the Cougars saw the team finish in the middle of the pack in WIC play but struggle outside of conference action with three wins on the season.
Change at the top will see North Putnam turn to a familiar face as Jacob Bender will take over the girls’ high school program this year.
“I was a part of the middle school program when it started four years ago and was involved with both the boys and girls for three years,” Bender said. “I took a break with my daughter on the way but, as there was an opening this year and as I was comfortable with how much time I had at home, decided to go for it.
“I have coached most of the girls already in the middle school, so we already had a relationship built up before things got started.”
While the summer was solid for the team, Bender said there was a lot more to consider at the high school level.
“Obviously there are a lot more things to deal with than in middle school with the physicality of the game, conditioning and preparing for opponents, so this has been a step up from what I have done before,” Bender said. “In middle school, practices were a lot about fundamentals as this isn’t a super soccer-heavy area, so coaching was about teaching the game.
“Now, it’s about touching on the fundamentals while working more on formation, reading the game and being technically more intensive. We have a couple of ideas on how to line up this season but we’ll see how things go leading into the opening game against Sullivan.”
The Cougars have three seniors in Graci Hollis, Meghan Ramirez and Layla Hassar, joined by juniors Grace Myers, Addison Everman, Lexi Mercurio, Hayley Dorsett, Jacy Huffman and Celsie Scott, sophomores Riley Huffman, Kassidy Hackleman, Allison Skirvin, Kaylynn Scott, Sydney Williams, Baylee Turner, Kylie Jacobs and Josie Curran and freshmen Kali Jo Boller, Alexis Bunten and Maria Worth.
Along the back, Bender said Jacobs would take the gloves in goal initially though there were times he would look to some of the newcomers between the sticks.
“Kylie will be starting in goal for us,” Bender said. “I have had a little time coaching her in middle school and she is playing basketball as well, so she has some physical tools to help in the position.
“We do have some freshmen also looking at the position so we might get them some experience for down the road.”
Hassar will anchor the defense with Bender pleased with the leadership the senior had shown in the early season.
“It is definitely nice to have Layla, as a senior and team captain, organizing things in the defense,” Bender said. “She is a steady presence and will be the centerpiece back there.
“The rest of the line is a bit of a grey area. We have two sophomores in Riley and Bailey that we’re looking back in the outside slots while Sydney will most likely be a central defender.”
While several returners would resume their midfield and forward duties, Bender said one of the goals this season was to be better equipped to handle pressure in the middle of the park and take some of the load off a defense that was constantly on the back foot last season.
“We’re pretty solid in the center of the field with Addison more of a defensive midfield and Jacy more of a central midfielder,” Bender noted. “On the outside, Kassidy is an option we have while we have some fluidity between Lexi, Grace and Allison in those positions.
“One thing we’ve focused on this offseason is to feel comfortable under pressure with possession. Hopefully we can clear up some of our defensive struggles by being able to get the ball up top where players like Graci are.”
Bender added the team was in good spirits to start the season, something he hoped to see from beginning to end as the Cougars look to improve on their three-win 2022 campaign.
“I want to see a strong cohesion among the team regardless of what’s happening in the game,” Bender said. “I want us to be able to keep possession, be fluid in our ball movement and make progressive passes in general.
“I also want to see our mentality and spirit stay up throughout the season as achieving that will be a big goal in my opinion. Overall, I’m really looking forward to this season as we have a great group of kids, had a really good summer where they’ve made a lot of improvement and everyone is excited to get going.”