WP High School Girls’ Soccer Team Discovers Winning Streak With Key Lineup Changes
~ by Trevor Phipps ~
After the Lady Panthers got back from spring break, they displayed many improvements out on the kicking field, translating to key victories.
According to the team’s coach Daniel Ganoza, the girls have been playing better due to some strategic position changes conducted by the coaching staff.
“For the first one-third of our season I just wasn’t getting production out of my forwards,” Ganoza said. “So we made a few tweaks here and there and I happy with how my forwards are looking now.”
The coach said that the team does have six returning seniors playing on it, but that they lost two of the key players they had on their team last year to graduation. After the team’s best forward and goalie graduated, the team has had issues finding solid replacements until recently. These two key positions are now filled by two freshmen who have impressed their coach on the field so far.
“This is my second year as coach so little by little we are trying to build the program,” Ganoza said. “We are growing the program in numbers.” The coach also said that he has a lot of good young players and is optimistic about the future of the team.
Senior fullback Cailin Edie, who is a vital part of the team’s defense, said that the team has some quality strengths but that there are some areas that they could improve on. “The strengths we have this year are that we really work well together,” Edie said. “We communicate well and we are also close as a team. We are all friends and we say ‘hi’ to each other in the halls and that sort of thing. We are really working better on communication in the field.”
Edie also said that the entire team could improve on their footwork on the field. “We could definitely improve on our footwork,” the defensive player said. “We have a couple of really strong players, but overall as a team our footwork isn’t the greatest.”
Edie said that this season was the year she had the most fun playing. When asked if she would continue her soccer career after high school, Edie replied that she would probably only play intermural sports.
The coach said that he is especially impressed with freshman midfielder Morgan Berry. “A lot of our success revolves around this great freshman I have at center mid,” Ganoza said.
The coach said that the freshman star has great potential and will continue to be a key player on the team throughout the duration of her high school sports career. “I think I have been really good at getting control of the ball in the middle and then getting it out wide so we can have a play happen and get up to the goal,” Berry said. “I can definitely improve on my communication and working with my teammates, dropping back and that kind of thing.” During the off-season, Berry plays in two different soccer leagues to keep her skills top-notch.
Since April 9, the girls have been on a winning streak and have won three games in a row. They ended their losing streak when they beat Widefield at home by a score of 4-2. Then during another home game last Tuesday, the Lady Panthers shutout the Sierra Stallions 9-0. Last Thursday, the girls went on the road to Mitchell and overcame the Lady Marauders 4-1.
This week the Lady Panthers have a chance to improve their 3-3 league record as they play a total of two games including one league match. This Thursday the girls go on the road and play the 3-7 Harrison Panthers during a game they should win if they want to move up in the ranks in their league. This Saturday, the girls play a non-league match against the 1-9 Pueblo East Eagles at home.