By John Miller (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Last season was a spectacular one for the Central girls soccer team, finishing with a 12-8-1 record before a district opening round loss to Kickapoo. With several top returners and newcomers back, the team hopes for a fantastic season this spring, as well.
“Even with the anticipation of playing and being a part of the Ozark Conference schedule next season, we have set ourselves up for the additional competition by already playing many of the Ozark Conference teams over the last several years,” said coach Chris Welch. “These girls know that the bar has been raised, and that our level of play must increase yet another notch. Along with the strong and talented newcomers we have coming in, our returning players are ready and willing to put in more than 100 percent each day to achieve not only playing well in each game, but also our annual postseason goals.”
Graduated from last year are two key players: Ireland Hawkins and Renon Kirkpatrick. Both players are now playing collegiately, with Hawkins at William Jewell and Kirkpatrick at Evangel.
“Ireland was a soft-spoken leader in the middle of the field,” Welch said. “We are looking to adjust our lineup to fill her position this season. Renon was our leading scorer from the midfield last season, but was also a great player on the outside of the field – directing the play with the ability to manage and dominate the inside of the field as needed.”
Fortunately, the team welcomes back a strong group of players that includes defenders Jaiden Ellerbee and all-district performer Kourtney Tucker and forward/midfielders Dani Barstead and Ahri Eyerman.
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Ellerbee was named Second Team All-District last season after being selected First Team All-District the previous two years.
“Jaiden is tough physically and mentally on the field and is an extremely strong leader,” Welch said. “She will again be a force to shutting down opposing offenses again this season.”
Tucker, now a sophomore, scored five goals and had two assists as a defender last year and was the fourth leading scorer on the team.
“She is a strong worker and team leader,” Welch said. “We are looking at Kourtney to possibly move into an offensive position this year to push our forward line into more scoring opportunities.”
Barstead returns as a forward/midfielder after missing most of last year with some serious injuries.
“Dani is a versatile player,” Welch said. “She is healed and ready to dominate the scoring opportunities this season.”
Eyerman was named First Team All-District and was nominated as a member of the All-Region team in 2016. Last year, she scored eight goals and had nine assists in 22 starts and was the second leading scorer on the team.
“She is smart and stealth in knowing, understanding, and moving to exactly where she needs to be on the field to receive the ball,” Welch said. “We are looking at Ahri to again be a leader in scoring this season.”
Central also welcomes in more than a half-dozen of experienced players this year that should make an impact.
“We expect each of these strong, athletic kids to make an impact on our program and push our returning girls,” Welch said.
“In order to win big games, … our team makes a daily effort to work together on the specific details to reach those postseason goals,” Welch said. “All of our players want to continue to make an impact on their team, their district, and in every game they play. They understand this year that in order to do that, the type of work they put in every day at practice, as well as in every game, must be very specific in order to achieve personal and team goals.”
