By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Camdenton Lady Lakers hope some early growing pains turn into late-season success this spring.
Camdenton enters 2021 with plenty of change ahead. The Lady Lakers welcome in a new head coach and will have a new-look team after graduating a big senior class.
With only a few starters locked in, playing time is up for grabs in preseason practices.
“We’ll be pretty young at several positions, so we may face some growing pains,” said Camdenton coach Tyler Sevon. “We’ve had a decent turnout in our offseason program but not enough to tell exactly what we are going to look like this year.
“We should be pretty talented and we’ll work hard every day to get better and compete in every game.”
Camdenton will lean on what should be a strong midfield unit.
Junior Alli Johns and sophomore Ella Smith can possess the ball and generate scoring chances.
“Alli sees the field really well. She’s a great playmaker who can make the game easier for her teammates or go to goal by herself when she needs to,” Sevon said.
Smith gives Camdenton another playmaker in the field.
“She’s really strong on the ball and places a very hard shot on goal,” Sevon said. “We’ll look to get Alli and Ella involved early and often.”
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Camdenton also returns junior Natalie Gahn at wing.
“She’s strong at wing and could see some times as our striker,” Sevon said.
One position that will have a familiar face is goalkeeper, where senior Sydney Smith returns.
“She has great hands and the ability to make any save needed,” Sevon said.
Defender Alexa Rapier, a junior, gives Camdenton some needed experience along its backline.
“Alexa’s a strong defender who can distribute the ball well out of the back,” Sevon said.
Sevon comes to Camdenton from Laquey High School.
On the boys’ side, he coached the Hornets to 80 wins and three district championships over five seasons.
On the girls’ side, he helped the program improve from just one win in 2017 to a combined 21 wins over the next two years.
Sevon’s eager to coach a girls’ team again after missing the 2020 spring season at Laquey due to COVID.
“The girls bring a different energy and outlook every day,” he said. “I enjoy coaching them. It should be a lot fun.”
Sevon will have to reshuffle the Camdenton lineup in his first season. The Lady Lakers must replace a deep and talented 2020 senior class.
Aeryn Kennedy was one of the best players in program history. She earned all-region and all-state honors in 2019.
Kennedy was poised to make a run at Camdenton’s career goals record in her senior season.
Fellow seniors Stormy Sweezor and Abby Bellew were 2019 All-Ozark Conference selections.
“This senior group would have done many great things last year and won a lot of games because of their talent and work ethic,” Sevon said. “They would have gone on to claim a lot individual awards like they did in 2019 and definitely would have competed for a district championship and possibly beyond.”
Other graduates include Emme Thompson, Cordelia Dallam, Jasmin Gopar-Hernandez, Amelia Martin, Maggie Wayman and Nia Onarheim.
Sevon said he coached several of the 2020 seniors over the summer when Camdenton played a small portion of its schedule to get “some semblance of a soccer season.”
“This senior group will be missed. They helped lead and prepare the program to have continued success,” Sevon said. “(Former head coach) Chris Byington did an awesome job with this group and it is really unfortunate that their senior season was taken away from them.”
With the departure of the 2020 seniors, Sevon will call upon several newcomers to fill out the Camdenton lineup.
Senior defender Ella Demott joins the team as a transfer from nearby School of the Osage. She’ll help anchor Camdenton’s backline.
“She’s always prepared to make a play on the ball,” Sevon said.
Junior Gracie Coffelt brings good speed to her outside mid position.
“She’ll be a wide-mid playmaker for us,” Sevon said.
A solid rookie class will look to make an immediate impact. Many of Camdenton’s varsity freshman could see time on defense.
Addyson Clay, Makenna Brauer, Nikki Sutterer and Abby Rapier could all earn playing time as defenders.
Lilli Sutterer will compete for a midfield role.
“There is definitely space for our underclassmen to really step up and play a lot of big time varsity minutes,” Sevon said.
The Lady Lakers begin the regular season March 19 at home against Bolivar.
