MSHSAA announced on Monday, Mar. 16 that they would not be cancelling spring sports due to the Coronavirus. There will be delays to the start of the season and you can read the full MSHSAA release on spring sports by clicking here. Many area schools have called off classes and extracurricular activities through at least Apr. 3 and will reassess at that time. We will continue to post our spring previews. Please note that this preview was written before delays for the spring season were announced.
By Brock Sisney (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
MONETT — The Monett Lady Cubs are looking to improve from their 5-18-2 record last season and return to the form that found Monett with a winning record and 13 wins two seasons ago.
“Our (team) goals were determined by a group of varsity players,” Monett head coach Neal Bluel said. “We want to get at least .500 record again this year. We set this goal each year to help us prepare for our district tournament. We hope to get to a district final. We have missed one by a goal or a play here and there the last few years. That would be a huge step for our program. We also have a team goal of scoring at least one goal a game. We have had many game results not go our way by a goal. We hope to change that this year.”
Monett’s season ended on a 2-1 overtime loss against conference and district rival Cassville and the Lady Cubs lost seven matches last season by one goal, including two double overtime losses against Marshfield. Monett went 1-10 over its final 11 matches; the Lady Cubs were 4-3 after their first seven.
All-conference honorees Kate Huntree (two goals scored) and Deisy Mejia (four goals and four assists) highlight a group of returning starters that also features Alicia Adams, Abby Jastal, Natalie Turner (three goals) and Jaida Warm (one goal). Bluel also mentioned returning players Melanie Cruz, Emily Shaw, Joanna Bello and Sydney Parrigon as players who will be in the varsity mix this season.
“Our team will be continually working on getting a starting lineup that will work for each opponent,” Bluel said. “We have a tendency to keep our same defensive players all season. That’s important for continuity game-to-game. We have played a variety of formations from a very old-fashioned 2-5-3 to a traditional 4-3-3 in the past years. It really depends on the personnel we have and we work with the players to find out what will work best for them.”
CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO ALL THE SPRING SPORTS PREVIEWS
The Lady Cubs graduated midfielder Kristen and defender Cassidy Abramovitz, who both earned all-Big 8 West first team honors during their senior campaigns. They also graduated honorable mention selection Madissen Brannon.
Monett’s numbers do not seem to have suffered after the struggles last season.
“We have a large number of participants we are expecting come first day of practice,” Bluel said. “For our school to have enough players to fill three teams (varsity, JV, freshman) is awesome, especially in girls soccer. We will have a C-team squad this year again, if everyone who shows interest comes out, which we use as a development team. This team builds skill and we have been able to schedule a few games with local C-teams or freshman-level teams for them. We hope that this program will continue to grow and other schools look to add these kinds of teams in the area.”
Numbers have an impact on competition for varsity spots.
”It is wide open,” Bluel said. “We really take the outlook that everyone has a chance to make the varsity team on Day One. What the players put into their preparation in the offseason determines this opportunity for them.”
Bluel said that Mejia, Huntress and Turner will be the Lady Cubs’ core leaders this season, because of their second-to-none work ethic.
“Our strength is our players,” Bluel added. “We have good team chemistry and good leadership. Our girls come from a variety of sporting backgrounds and it is fun to see them learn the game and love the game by the end of the season. Our strength is our players’ passion for the game.”
Monett opens its 2020 season March 20 in the Cassville Tournament.
