By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Neosho may seem hungry entering the 2019 season, and that’s to be expected.
Not because the Lady Wildcats went a respectable 11-11 last year, but it’s how that record came about. Neosho lost four games by a single goal, including a regular season loss to Elite Eight team Bolivar and a pair to district champion Webb City.
“The girls that were involved in those game will have to instill into their teammates the importance of taking advantage of opportunities,” said Neosho coach Steve Schnackenberg. “I feel we had some of those that could have changed many of those losses.”
Entering his 11th season, Schnackenberg will return many familiar faces from last season. He’ll also look to mix in key newcomers to help get Neosho back over that district hump.
Leading scorers Ashley Talley and Laken Schnackenberg are gone, so much of the offensive load will fall on Brooklynn Hughes (11 goals, 2 assists in 2018). Taylor Baker and Amber Shepeard will anchor Neosho defensively.
“Brooklynn Hughes, Taylor Baker and Amber Shepeard are our key returners,” said Schnackenberg. “Brooklynn is a leading goal scorer for us and team captain last year. Taylor and Amber anchor our back line. They will be great leaders for our young team this season.”
Schnackenberg will also play several newcomers after losing a 10-player senior class from last season.
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“We look for Hanna Lett, Shelby Roberts, Angie Rodriguez, Olivia Hixson, Abby Jarvis, Madison Doty, Mylie Gindling, Abby Gilliam, Wendy Paxtor, Aalyiah Almeraz, Aurora Piedrasanta, Avery Renfro, Andi Johnson, Kyra Hersey, Joali Ornales, and Daylie Lopez to make contributions this season,” said Schnackenberg. “These are all returning players looking to fill the spots our 10 seniors left on our varsity roster. There are several freshman coming into the mix too.”
Neosho has seen its star in soccer rise over the last several years, becoming a team that competes for conference and district championships.
This coming after the program had some growing pains since starting its soccer program.
With Joplin joining the COC, the conference slate will be even more loaded. But, now it’ll be up to a new group of Lady Cats to help build on the foundation set by previous classes.
“Our senior class last year was strong,” Schnackenberg. “There were big numbers and athletes that spent a lot of time in the offseason. We have developed an environment where that is important to players that are part of our program. It has also helped increase the number of girls that come out. We have seen a steady incline in our numbers in the last several years.
“We have a lot of girls with big opportunities in from of them. There are a lot of spots to fill from last year. The leaders will have to be strong and set the level or precedence and girls that saw no varsity time or little varsity time last year will have to take that next step. I’m excited to see these girls do those things.”
Neosho will open the 2019 season on March 19 against Hillcrest.
