The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 15, 2018 D-5 Pictured above is the 2018-19 Pike Central High School girls' soccer team. They are, first row, left to right: Abby Skelton, Hannah Woodford, Lauren Young, Halli Fair and Grace Brandle. Second row: Adair Kabrick, Jenna Horrall, Kelsey Barrett, Emily Hill, Rebekah Luff, Sydney Keith, MaKenna Goins, Shelby Vaughn and Morgan Houchins. Not pictured: Albany Ashley and Alli Holder. Ed Cahill photo GIRLS' SOCCER In any sport, Four Star Fabricators encourages all Pike Central athletes to work hard, play tough and win in life. Four Star Fabricators P.O. Box 67, Petersburg, IN 47567 Serving the Aluminum, Coal and Power Industries with Quality Steel Fabrication Phone: 812-354-9995 Fax: 812-354-3809 www.fourstarfab.com Good Luck This season! Good Luck Chargers 104 E. Main St. Petersburg, IN 47567 • 812-354-8531 New head coach ready to lead the Lady Chargers By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School girls' soc- cer team begins the 2018 season with a new head coach – the Lady Chargers' third in the last three seasons – as Eric McCord, who served as an assistant coach under James DeCrane a year ago, takes over. "I've always wanted to be a head coach," said the 24-year-old McCord, who graduat- ed from Pike Central High School in 2012. "I didn't expect to be head coach this year. I was going to be the assistant coach again, but when DeCrane stepped down, and no- body else was willing to be head coach, I thought I'd step up and see what I could do as head coach." The Lady Chargers lost three players to graduation from last year's squad that went 4-9 -2 overall and 1-5 in the Pocket Athletic Conference: Taylor Deffendoll, who netted 15 of the team's 34 goals – including seven in a season-opening 15 -0 win at North Knox – and was named to the All-PAC team; Breana Cowan, who had three goals; and sweeper Autumn Pancake. Pike Central began the 2017 season with three straight wins, but went 1-9 -2 the rest of the season after then-sophomore goal- keeper Jenna Horrall sustained what proved to be a season-ending knee injury that re- quired surgery and her back-up – then-soph- omore Halli Fair – suffered a season-ending injury as well. "We had a really strong start to the sea- son," McCord recalled. "But we started los- ing players due to unfortunate injuries – and we lost quite a few players – so that hurt a lot." "We had people step up and take over positions whenever we needed it," McCord added. "That was great to see, that players were willing to pick up the slack wherever we needed. But, I think, overall, it kind of demoralized us as we went into the end of the season, losing so many players and not having a lot of subs to work with. Seeing a lot of players down doesn't really help the team's morale." The Lady Chargers, who opened the sea- son at Tell City on Tuesday, Aug. 14, and will host North Knox on Wednesday, Aug. 15, have a total of 10 returning players – seniors Kelsey Barrett, Emily Hill, Sydney Keith and Rebekah Luff; juniors Jenna Horrall, Morgan Houchins, Adair Kabrick and Shel- by Vaughn; and sophomores Grace Brandle and Halli Fair. (Chloe Roy, who scored five goals while dishing out a team-best five assists as a sophomore last year, will miss the 2018 cam- paign after suffering a knee injury during preseason conditioning.) They are being joined this season by se- nior MaKenna Goins, who played for the La- dy Chargers during her freshman and soph- omore years; sophomore Lauren Young; and freshmen Albany Ashley, Alli Holder, Abby Skelton and Hannah Woodford. Last season, Barrett – who received All- PAC honorable mention after scoring eight goals last season, – and Luff shouldered the team's goal-keeping duties after both Hor- rall and Fair were sidelined. "I think it's going to be good to see Kelsey be able to play offense this year," McCord said. "We lost a couple of offensive players ... so I'm hoping Kelsey can step up and help us get some goals." "It was fortunate she was just a junior last year, so she didn't have to play her last year as goalie," McCord added. "But I think we've got a couple of new players that are coming in – some freshmen and sophomores – that are promising to fill in some of the defensive roles. So I think we'll have a pretty strong team, still, even though we lost some key defensive and offensive players." McCord said that Barrett and Hill – who scored one goal last season – will see a lot of action up front. "With Kelsey and Emily up front, I think we've got a pretty strong offense with them leading as seniors," McCord said. "I think they can both score pretty well. They've both got decent long shots. They can control the ball really well, and they're both great athletes with great attitudes and they're willing to play wherever we need them. So they'll play midfield defense, wherever they need to be." "They might throw a fit sometimes," Mc- Cord added with a grin. "But they'll go there if they know the team needs it." Luff, McCord said, will play mostly de- fense. "We're going to look at playing defensive mid with her and maybe a little bit of stop- per as well, switch it up a little bit for her," McCord said. Keith is also expected to play a big role on defense this season as well, according to McCord. "Sydney was, a lot of times, our left back defense," McCord said. "She's left-footed, so we always kept her on the left wing. With her being a senior, I'm thinking about mov- ing her into the middle and using some of the new freshmen and sophomores for the wings." "I want to definitely make sure the middle of our goal is safe, so keeping our seniors there is a big deal," McCord added. "So I think I'm going to push her into a more im- portant role in the middle there." McCord said that he hadn't quite figured out yet where to play Goins. "She seems like a very friendly student, so I think she's going to fit in well with the team," McCord said. She's willing to go wherever we need. I was thinking about trying her out on defense and see what she does there. I've never seen her play, but I'm sure she'll be great, though." Horrall will be returnining as the team's starting goal-keeper, McCord said. "Jenna was a great goalie as a sopho- more, so I'm hoping, coming back as a ju- nior, that she gets even better and she can get over her injury," McCord said. "We're really looking forward to having her in our goal so we can free up other players for oth- er positions." Houchins, who scored one goal and dished out one assist as a sophomore, is expected to play more of an offensive role this season, McCord said. "She's got a great foot on her, so she can aim the ball really well," McCord said. "She's got really good power, so we're look- ing to put her up front, probably attacking mid or one of the attacking position. We're looking at her to be one of our freekick tak- ers because she has great placement. She can put the ball where it needs to go." Kabrick, McCord said, will see a lot of action in the midfield, where she will be able to combine her defensive and offen- sive skills. "She's quick and she's good with the ball, so we're looking at putting her in midfield somewhere," McCord said. "It seems she can move the ball around in the middle and get it up to our offense and be there when the defense needs it. That's where she played last year and she did a great job there. So we're going to keep her there." Vaughn, meanwhile, is expected to play on both offense and defense. She will also be running on the cross country team this fall as well. "She played defense a lot for us last year," McCord said. "I want to move her into a role where her stamina can be used a little bit more. She's got great footwork, so I'm look- ing to put her at an attacking mid position." McCord said that he was looking at us- ing Vaughn to take corner kicks, a role that Roy filled last season. "Chloe was kind of our attacking mid and she'd move and take corner kicks," McCord said. "So I'm kind of looking to see if Shel- by can fill that role for us, because she's al- so got a pretty long kick like Chloe did. She can move the ball around. So that's kind of how we're looking to mend that wound." Brandle, who scored one goal last season, will see action in the midfield area, accord- ing to McCord. "We kept her on midfield quite a bit," Mc- Cord said. "She's a lot like Adair – she's quick and she's got good footwork and she can move the ball up and down the field. So we'll probably use her in midfield again and see how she does." Fair, who will again serve as the team's backup goalie, will serve in more of an at- tacking role, McCord said. "Hopefully, as long as we keep Jen- na (healthy), we can put Halli up front and see how she does up front, because I know that's where she likes to play," Mc- Cord said. "But she's willing to play goal- ie whenever we need it." Young, who will also be running on the cross country team this fall, will likely see playing time on the defensive side of the field. "She's really quick," McCord said of Young. "I'm looking at her being a replace- ment for Autumn in the back as a kind of a sweeper since she's so quick. She can get around anywhere on the defense we need her to be, so that's kind of where I'm look- ing to put her this year." The team's four freshmen – Ashley, Hold- er, Skelton and Woodford – will likely vie for playing time on the defensive end, Mc- Cord said. "They've been showing a lot of skill at practices, so I'm looking forward to seeing them grow through the four years in high school as well," McCord stated. "I didn't get to see many of the middle school games, but they seem like all good players." McCord said that he felt, going into the season, that the Lady Chargers' offense would be "pretty strong." "We've got a lot of players, like our se- niors and juniors, to fill up most of our of- fensive team," McCord said. "That's why I was looking at the new freshmen and the new sophomores that come in to help us out on defense, because we lost a couple of de- fensive players last year." "I think we're going to have a really strong offense," McCord added. "We're going to be able to get some good passes and crosses in and, hopefully, win the ball a lot in the mid- dle and get some shots off." McCord noted, however, that his team's conditioning may be a concern, especially early in the season. "I think we can do some more running so we're not quite as tired, so we don't lose our stamina," McCord said. "We have 16 players, so we'll have 11 on the field and we'll still have five subs, so we'll be able to do quite a bit of subbing in case somebody needs a break or needs to catch their breath. But I think we can use more stamina to keep people ready to go out on the field." The biggest goal for this year's team, Mc- Cord said, is to keep improving as the sea- son progresses. "A lot of the underclassmen, I want them to be able to get some game time in and im- prove their game as well, keep the program going, not just this year, but as we go along," McCord said. Other goals, according to McCord, in- cluding "giving the seniors a good year" and "try to win as many games as possible." "I know a lot of our juniors and seniors are competitive, so they're hungry to get some wins and, hopefully, win a sectional," Mc- Cord said. "I know they are really excited about that. They're really competitive peo- ple, so I'm looking forward to progressing the program." I think we're going to have a really strong offense. We're going to be able to get some good passes and crosses in and, hope- fully, win the ball a lot in the middle and get some shots off." -Coach Eric McCord