By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
On paper, losing six solid seniors to graduation – including 45 percent of its scoring and one of the top defenders in the area – might appear to put a team at a disadvantage.
But for the Lebanon Lady Yellowjackets, they’re basically reloading this season with 14 returning players with varsity experience, three of which were All-Ozark Conference selections.
“We had a solid year last year, having the fourth-most wins in program history,” fifth-year coach Matt Jernigan said. “We were disappointed with the ending and felt like we could have had a better showing in the postseason.
“We have a lot of varsity experience coming back and are looking forward to learning from last year and improving from a solid year last year.”
After winning the Class 4 District 9 title in 2016, the Lady Yellowjackets were placed in a different district (Class 4 District 10) losing in the semifinals to Ozark, 9-1, in 2017 to finish 14-10-1 overall and 5-4 in the OC.
Among the losses from last year’s squad is Lexi Wapelhorst, an All-OC, All-District and All-Region selection in 2017. Wapelhorst, who scored 29 goals and added 22 assists last year, amassed 144 goals for her career and has taken her talents to MidAmerica Nazarene.
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Mariah Mitchell, another All-OC first-team pick last season, is now playing at Evangel University.
“Lexi was a dominant offensive player and Mariah was our anchor in the back,” Jernigan said, “but more than their play, our group of seniors were good kids on and off the field. They will be missed for their play, but also their leadership.”
The Lady Yellowjackets return six key letterwinners, including: Alyssa Long, senior forward, second team All-OC; Abbey Schmidt, senior keeper, All-OC first team; Haleigh Dearborn, senior midfielder, second team All-OC; Britny Baker, senior defender; Skyler Hough, junior defender and Katie Branson, junior midfielder.
“We have a lot of varsity experience coming back and are excited to have so many returning starters,” Jernigan said. “Alyssa had 21 goals and six assists as a junior. She has been a varsity starter all four years and we are looking for her to take another step forward as a key in our offense this season.
“Abbey is returning in goal for her third year as a starter for us and just committed to Evangel University to play soccer. She had 11 shutouts last year and is looking at add to that number. Haleigh Dearborn has been in the midfield for us the last three years and is going to be key in our attack this year. Skyler Hough is our next solid defender. She has been playing defense two years now and has played a lot of soccer in the offseason and is ready to be the leader of the defense this year.”
Jernigan will be looking to Ashlynn Leochner and Katie Brandon to step up this season.
Leochner, a sophomore defender, started as a freshman last year, making noticeable improvement throughout the season. Brandon, a junior midfielder, worked hard in the offseason and at Lebanon’s open fields.
The Lady Yellowjackets kick the season off by hosting a jamboree including Marshfield, Crocker and Bolivar. They open the season with the Heritage Bank Tournament at the Lebanon High School turf field.
This year’s senior class looks to set the program record for most wins for a class. Last year’s group won 54 games as the second-winningest class in program history. The current seniors are sitting at 40 victories.
“Our strength will be our goalkeeping and our experience,” Jernigan said. “We return a solid senior keeper (Schmidt) who has proven herself to teams across the region and state. We also are returning 14 players with varsity experience, so we are hoping to hit the ground running once the season starts.
“We are in a very difficult district and conference. We hope to compete with those teams and continue to improve our position in both the district and conference. We have made good steps in the last four years and hope to continue that this year.”
