By Nolan Epstein
After three straight seasons of floating around the .500 mark, the Lebanon Lady Jackets are looking to make 2017 the year that their squad reaches new heights.
There’s good reason for that kind of optimism, too, as the right personnel appears to be in place in order to lift Lebanon to where it wants to be.
The Lady Jackets are poised to build off a 13-14 campaign last spring that did see a late six-game winning streak and the first district championship in program history with a win over Parkview – something that head coach Matt Jernigan is tremendously proud of.
“The season started rocky, but the seniors really pushed the girls to get better every practice and it showed at the end of the year,” Jernigan said. “We always say we want to be playing our best soccer at the end of the year and we did last year.”
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Now, the fourth-year head coach looks to take another step forward, but will have to do so without four key players from last year’s team – Becca Tucker, Lily Woolsey, Darian Cuglietta and Emily Wilson. Tucker leaves the biggest hole to be filled as the now-Evangel player stood out by collecting 14 goals and three assists during her senior season.
“We will be faced with trying to fill those spots this year,” Jernigan said. “We also had great leadership in our senior group last year, so our girls will have to step up to try to fill those shoes.”
Luckily for Jernigan and the Lady Jackets, plenty of talent and experience remains on the pitch. Senior forward Lexi Wapelhorst will anchor the offense with her 115 career goals and 47 career assists. Posting 37 goals and 19 assists as a junior, Wapelhorst is the undisputed centerpiece when it comes to putting balls into the back of the net.
The talented senior earned Honorable Mention All-State, 1st Team All-Region and 1st Team All-Conference honors in 2016 and is poised to add to her impressive list of accolades.
Wapelhorst will be joined up front by junior forward Alyssa Long, who tallied nine goals and nine assists last year as a sophomore. Earning first team all-district honors last season, Long is expected to step into a more prominent scoring role.
The defensive unit will be led by senior Mariah Mitchell and sophomore Skylar Hough. Mitchell, one of the quickest players in the Ozark Conference, was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the district and has signed to play soccer at Evangel next season.
Hough, who is playing just her second year of organized soccer, is another bright spot for the squad and will also be asked to take on an expanded role.
“Skylar [Hough] is an up-and-coming player for us,” said Jernigan. “She stepped into a starting role in the defense last year for us as a freshman and has continued to improve over the offseason.”
The goal will be guarded by junior keeper Abbey Schmidt, who was named to the 2nd Team All-District team and is garnering some college interest.
Overall, Lebanon sees the return of nine starters and 14 letterwinners, which bodes awfully well for its chances of climbing to the upper realm of the OC standings and making a deep playoff run.
“We have a great senior group which contains leaders both on and off the field,” added Jernigan. “Hopefully, we will be able to hit the ground running when the season starts and continue from where we left off last season.”
Lebanon begins the season by hosting a tournament on March 17 and 18, followed by a date with Marshfield on the road on March 21.
