WHITE HOUSE – Getting off to a good start hasn’t always been easy for the Lady Giant soccer team. And so, in Wednesday’s sectional tournament game against a powerful Anthony Wayne team, a good start was paramount for the Ross’ success. But the Generals jumped all over the Lady Giants, scoring five times in the first 20 minutes on its way to a 9-0 victory.
Left to right, seniors Sophie Collison, Kelby Bickley, Jordan Relford, Mackenzie Kidwell and Justine Michael. Photo courtesy of Phil Collison.
“They got on us pretty quick but that’s always been our Achilles’ heel all year, starting quick,” said assistant coach Josh McAfee, who served in place of head coach Phil Collison who was unable to coach the match. “It seems it always takes us 15 or 20 minutes to get into a match.”
After the Lady Giants found their legs, however, Ross was more competitive, generated some opportunities but were unable to counter the Generals’ speed.
“It was probably the team with most pure speed we’ve seen all year,” McAfee said. “They were very quick going north and south.
“Their coach even said after the game, we had some players that were trying to play technical and she was actually impressed with how we could knock the ball around at times.”
The loss brings about the end of the Lady Giants’ season. Ross closes the year with a 4-11-2 record and marks the end of the careers of seniors Kelby Bickley, Sophie Collison, Mackenzie Kidwell, Justin Michael and Jordan Relford.
“This was the second class I’ve had all the way through from their freshman to senior year and just the growth of where they found the program to where they’ve left it in their senior year is complete night-and-day, 180 (degrees), from the attitude on the team and the work ethic,” McAfee said. “All the senior classes, from my first year until now, have left it a better place and hopefully next year those juniors will step up and continue that trend.”
With Collison stepping down and McAfee expected to take over the program, he said he anticipates the offense to be a strength next year while the defense will have to figure out how to replace Bickley, Sophie Collison and Relford as starters.
“(This season) we had to kind of reinvent the offensive side of the ball a little bit. Next year is going to be the total opposite,” McAfee said. “We had some young kids step up this year and we have some building blocks on the offensive side of the ball. But for next year we’re going to have to replace two or three starters on the back end. I have an idea of who I want back there now, but it’s a long offseason and you never know who is going to show they want it the most.”