Lady Pioneers soccer looking to mature quickly
The 2005 Lady Pioneer soccer team will hit the field under the leadership of third-year coach Keith Hamilton. While coach Hamilton relied on his 10 seniors last season for leadership and experience, this year the team will have four seniors to lead the way as coach Hamilton expects to see several sophomores take on a starting role.
Warren County finished the 2004 season with a 6-9 overall record and 3-4 in District 7-AAA action. The Lady Pioneers, who were seeded fifth, were defeated in the first round of the District 7-AAA tournament by the Lady Warriors of Riverdale.
Seniors Alex Mullican, Shea Martin, Erin Wolford, Beth Damon are going to be expected to be more vocal as team leaders, while helping the younger girls mature as high school soccer players.
“We know this is a rebuilding year for the program with only four seniors,” Hamilton said.
“I have four good seniors but they’re going to be caring the load this season. We are very young, and our sophomores and freshmen will be getting a lot of time on the field this season. Our four seniors can’t do it alone, so the younger kids are going to have to step up and mature quickly.”
There are many things for this year’s Lady Pioneers to work on, but one phase of the game which will get a lot of attention this season will be defense. In the past the Lady Pioneers have been blessed with team speed, but this year the lack of quickness is a concern for Hamilton.
“Our team speed is going to effect the way we approach each game,” he said. “My biggest concern is our ability to get back defensively, and be in the proper position to make the play. We have been working on our alignments and making sure the girls understand how to read the other team’s offense.
“It’s very important that we stay focused on the little things, which can make a big difference in our ability to keep the other team off the scoreboard. In our first play-day we gave up 14 goals in two halves of play. This past weekend in Chattanooga we lost to Bradley Central 1-0 and then tied Dixson 0-0, so we have made some progress over the last two weeks. The girls are starting to catch on to what we’re trying to do. This team is so young it’s going to take some time for all of them to get the concept and to meet the challenges you find in high school soccer.”
Offensively, the Lady Pioneers will have to take advantage of every scoring opportunity they get. But Hamilton is quickly to point out that scoring will come, it’s just going to be a matter of getting the girls to communicate better on the field.
“This is a very quiet team,” he said. “The girls need to be more vocal with each other on the field. There so young they just haven’t learned how to help each other with verbal communication, but it will come. The more playing time these girls get the more confidence it will build.
“This year most of the team will be playing both varsity and junior varsity. They need as much playing time as we can get them. and that’s one way to help speed the maturing process.”
Coach Alan Brownyard will be in charge of the junior varsity again this season with five games scheduled. Brownyard, who has been an assistant for the past two years after retiring as head coach, has been instrumental is the success of the high school program.
The Lady Pioneers will have two non-district games before heading to Oakland on Aug. 20 for their first District 7-AAA game of the season.
2005 Schedule
(Revised Aug. 12)
Date Opponent H/A Time
Aug. 6 Warren County Play-Day
Aug. 13 Chattanooga Christian Play Day
Aug. 16 Livingston Academy A 7 p.m.
Aug. 18 Franklin (JV only) A 6:30
Aug. 20 Oakland A 6 p.m.
Aug. 23 Brentwood H 6 p.m.*
Aug. 25 Blackman H 6 p.m.*
Aug. 30 Page H 7 p.m.
Sept. 1 Lebanon A 4 p.m.
Sept. 6 Riverdale H 7 p.m.
Sept. 8 Franklin Co. A 5/7p.m.
(JV first, followed by varsity)
Sept. 13 White County H 6 p.m.*
Sept. 20 Ooltewah H 6 p.m.*
Sept. 22 Siegel A 6 p.m.*
Sept. 27 St. Andrews A 4:30
Sept. 29 Cookeville H 6 p.m.*
Oct. 1-2 JV Tournament Shelbyville TBA
Oct. 4 Cumberland Co. A 5 p.m.
Oct. 6 McGavock H 5:30
Oct. 10 First Round District TBA TBA
Oct. 11, 13 District Tourn. White Co. TBA
(* – denotes junior varsity game will follow varsity game.)