Coming off a 13-12 season a year ago, the Lebanon girls’ soccer team enters 2016 with a veteran lineup set to take the field.
Lebanon will be led by a pair of players who have already committed to college programs, led by senior Becca Tucker, who has signed to play at Evangel, and junior Lexi Wapelhorst, who has committed to play at MidAmerica Nazarene.
The ‘Jackets graduate just four seniors from last year’s squad, and will rely on a deep senior class this season.
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Last year, Lebanon saw its season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion as the Yellowjackets fell to Waynesville in PKs, 3-2, in the opening round of the Missouri Class 4 District 9 tournament. Lebanon had defeated the Tigers earlier in the season.
“Last year’s district loss to Waynesville was probably the hardest games I’ve coached and one of the hardest losses we’ve had,” Jernigan said. “We really felt like we had a good chance to win that game, but we didn’t.
“The end of last year was a feeling that we hope we don’t have to feel again. Waynesville played a great game but we all knew we could have played better.”
Leading the way this season is Wapelhorst, who has already set numerous school records, including career goals and single season goals scored.
“She’s somebody that everyone will be looking at,” Jernigan said.
Jernigan said Tucker is a big part of a defensive backfield that is the heart of the program, featuring junior Mariah Mitchell and others.
“They’ve been terrific back there and we’re really expecting them to be leaders,” Jernigan said.
New in goal this year will be Abbey Schmidt, who Jernigan said, “Is a basketball girl that decided to play soccer, so we’re excited about her.”
Several players in the senior class are currently fighting for playing time with a talented group of underclassmen. The ‘Jackets have eight other seniors out for the team, in addition to Tucker, including, Caitlea Porch, Lily Woolsey, Klara Schoenmeyer, Isabell Hernandez, Darian Cuglietta, Emily Wilson, Taylor Veurnik and Taylor Mitchell.
“There are spots open and they are really fighting for those spots,” Jernigan said. “Our experience is definitely a strength. We only graduated four seniors, so we have a lot of varsity experience coming back and a really solid junior class that has been building since they first started.”
