By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Although the Carl Junction Lady Bulldogs graduated a large senior class in 2024, they do return their top goal scorer and goalkeeper in 2025.
The Lady Bulldogs started the 2024 season 7-0 before finishing 14-9 overall and 5-4 in the Central Ozark Conference. Their season ended with a 6-0 loss to St. Michael the Archangel in the finals of the Class 3 District 7 Tournament as the No. 1 seed. They scored 62 goals, had 37 goals against and recorded 9 shutouts on the season.
Coach Ed Miller, who is in his 28th year of coaching, is confident in the 2025 version of the young Lady Bulldogs as they make the move to the new Ozark Mountain Conference.
“We are young, but we have several girls that played varsity last year as freshmen gaining valuable experience,” Miller said. “We will have to move players around to fill the key positions we lost from our seniors, but I’m confident in our players to make those adjustments.
“We have our goal scorer back and our goalkeeper did an outstanding job and I’m looking forward to seeing her growth from last year. The questions we must answer as a team are, can we score goals this year and who is going to control the middle of the field and distribute the ball, and can our defense contain the other teams and adjust in the run of play. We will be young and lack experience at the back end.”
Juniors Ella Anderson and Jadyn Howard will lead the young Lady Bulldogs roster this season.
Ella Anderson, junior forward – Played in 21 games, scored 29 goals with 6 assists; named Class 3 All-Region 4 and All-Central Ozark Conference first team. “Ella has done a great job for us starting her first two years and has 48 goals in two years for us,” Miller said. “She will be our most experienced player this year after graduating eight seniors last year and we’ll be looking for leadership. She plays club soccer in the offseason in Arkansas and is working on improving her craft.”
Jadyn Howard, junior goalkeeper – Recorded 9 shutouts and had 5 penalty kick saves; named All-Central Ozark Conference honorable mention. “Last year was Jadyn’s first year playing soccer and she did an outstanding job in goal for us.”
Grace Carrier, sophomore forward – Played 23 games, scored 12 goals with 9 assists, won the team’s Newcomer Award for new players to the program with the biggest impact. “We are hoping for a big year from Grace in her second year. We are looking at switching positions for Grace and putting her in the middle of the field for us. She also plays club soccer in Springfield (and we) can’t wait to see how much she has improved.”
Hartley Parrish, sophomore defender – Scored 1 goal. “(She) played in 20 games for us last year and we’re hoping to move Hartley to the center of our defense.”
Lakyn Evans, sophomore – Scored 1 goal with 2 assists. “(Lakyn) played in 23 games last year and was a pleasant surprise as a freshman. She played club in the offseason and is going to be a key part of our success this year. She is an energizer bunny and has a motor that goes on and on.”
Nevaeh Triplett, sophomore – Scored 3 goals with 6 assists. “Nevaeh played in 20 games last year and is another high-energy girl and works hard on the field. We are expecting Nevaeh to start this year and build off last year’s success.”
Valarie Figueroa, junior defender – Scored 1 goal with 2 assists. “Valarie played in 21 games last year and is looking at playing another position for us this year because of her versatility moving back to center back. We are hoping she can stay healthy because our depth is going to be an issue this year.”
Babe Hughes, junior – “Babe played JV last year and really stepped up in the offseason and looks to be challenging for a starting varsity spot.”
Miller has a couple of freshmen he thinks could contribute to the team’s success this season in Morgan Stauffer and Kylee Ingle.
“Morgan Stauffer is an incoming freshman that has looked good this offseason and we’re looking for her to make impact on the varsity team this year,” Miller said. “Kylee Ingle came out this summer and has a high work rate and is strong and fast to the ball. Kylee is another girl looking to make an impact on the varsity team.”
The Lady Bulldogs graduated 15 goals and 26 assists from last season that Miller said the team “must find with new players or some stepping up and having a better year” with the loss of Audrey Fletcher, Hailey Merwin, Sara Buchele, Anna Burch, Josie Gilbert, Olivia Trosper, Letzy Poroj and Alexa Evans.
Audrey Fletcher, defender – Scored 1 goal with 3 assists; named to All-Central Ozark Conference second team; a four-year varsity player and three-year starter.
Hailey Merwin, forward – 6 goals, 14 assists; earned Class 3 All-State second team, Class 3 All-Region 4 and All-Central Ozark Conference first-team honors. “Hailey did an outstanding job last year playing attacking mid as the offense ran through her,” Miller said. “In my opinion, she had her best year as a player because she did a great job seeing the field and setting players up to be successful. She will be missed.”
Sara Buchele, midfielder – 4 goals, 8 assists. “Sara was another girl in the middle of the field we relied on defensively and on offense. She was a hard worker and gave her all.”
Anna Burch – 3 goals. “Anna came back and played her senior year after taking a year off for track and she had one of the biggest goals of the year in the semifinal game in district. She really helped our team success last year.”
Josie Gilbert, defender – 2 assists. “Josie played center back and became a full-time starter last year and helped run the back line. She was a big part of the nine shutouts we had.”
Olivia Trosper, defender/midfielder – 1 assist; played in 17 games.
Letzy Poroj – “Played in 15 games and helped on the offense for us.”
The Lady Bulldogs will host a jamboree with Joplin, Webb City and Carthage on March 13, and will see Webb City (March 25) and Carthage (March 27) again when they open the regular season at home.
“Webb City is our rival and in our district, so it will be important for seeding purposes as well as bragging rights,” Miller said of his team’s schedule. “We are also looking forward to playing Joplin and Carthage as well as Neosho and looking to be the best team in southwest Missouri.
“We are young, which is positive and negative, but I feel strongly about the coaching of our players. I feel that our team can come together and gain continuity by the end of the year to make a run in districts.”
