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 Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Steve Schnackenberg is entering his 14th season at the helm of Neosho Soccer and he’s seen it all.
The last decade saw the Lady Wildcats grow their soccer tradition, including a pair of 15-plus win seasons and a district championship in 2017.
Now, with seven starters and 13 letterwinners returning from last year’s 6-16 squad, Schnackenberg is hoping to start 2020 with a bang.
“Many of these girls got experience last year,” said Schnackenberg. “We needed to make that step to the varsity level and these girls got the experience last year to lead and make impacts this season.”
Leading the way will be returning starters Angie Rodriguez, Avery Renfro, Shelby Roberts, Breanna Alverado, Mailie Gindling, Kyra Hirshey, Erica Ornales and Joali Ornales.
“I think them playing major varsity roles last year will be helpful,” said Schnackenberg. “We really put a lot on some of their shoulders, especially Bri, and they learned a lot and have made big improvements. I’m excited to see them use that experience this season.”
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They’ll look to replace the void left by All-COC standouts Taylor Baker and Brooklynn Hughes.
“Both of them along with Amber Shepeard came out their freshman year pretty much new to everything we were doing and almost immediately picked it up,” said Schnackenberg. “They are great athletes and learned quickly and made an impact for us. Their hard work and dedication was a focus for us last year to bring in a lot of new players to the varsity level.”
Their graduation will leave opportunities for several newcomers to make an instant impact.
Schnackenberg is excited about what they’ll add to an already deep roster as they get varsity experience.
“Abi Gilliam, Wendy Paxtor, Abby Jarvis, Andi Johnson, Brecia Daniel and Maddison Doty all had good seasons on JV and helped us out on the varsity level,” said Schnackenberg. “We will be watching for them to step into starting roles this season. Freshmen Gisselle Vargas, Yulisa Maldonado and Lorelie Pelep have looked great during the offseason and we hope they can be in the mix also.”
For Neosho to take the next step towards competing for conference and district titles, the Lady Cats will have to continue to match the level of the area’s top large-school programs, many of which are found in the COC.
After losing seven games by just a single goal last season, Schnackenberg is excited to see if his team can get over the hump and win some of those tight contests.
“We look to make gains on those top teams this year and put ourselves in situations where we can get a few more conference wins,” said Schnackenberg. “This off season has been pretty good for us. That’s a start. Mainly we need our returning players to use the experience they got last year and use it to set the example at practice and build from there. We have a few freshman that we can add to the mix and continue to make us more and more competitive.
Neosho will open the 2020 season on March 27, at home, against Springdale Har-Ber (Ark.).
