The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 19, 2015 D-5 Lady Chargers looking to build on first sectional title The Pike Central High School girls' soccer team will begin its season by visiting North Knox on Wednesday, Aug. 19, before hosting Mount Vernon on Sat- urday, Aug. 22. The members of the team are, front row (l to r): Kyla Newkirk, Shelby Keith, Katherine Young, Amber Dixon, Kelsey Barrett and Emily Hill. Second row: Madison Scott, Alley Rich, Bri Schaller, Sydney Brooks, Sarah Rothrock, Amy Chastain, Michaela Greener and Rebekah Luff. Third row: Head Coach Alisha Knight, Sydney Keith, Breana Cowan, Autumn Pancake, Taylor Deffendoll, Nicole Griffith, MaKenna Goins and Abby Hess. Not pictured – As- sistant Coach Allie Schechner. Ed Cahill photo See GIRLS on D-11 GIRLS' SOCCER GOOD LUCK, CHARGERS! Excellence is everyone's priority at Computers Plus. Your area dealer in Computer, Internet and Satellite TV service. 109 SOUTH 6TH STREET • PETERSBURG • 812-354-9633 Good Luck Chargers 104 E. Main St. Petersburg, IN 47567 • 812-354-8531 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net A fter winning its first-ev- er sectional title last sea- son, the Pike Central High School girls' soccer team will open the 2015 season knowing that they won't have an opportunity to de- fend it. When the Indiana High School Athletic Associa- tion announced new section- al assignments for the next two years this past May, the Lady Chargers learned that they had been moved to a sectional which also includes Evansville Day, Evansville Mater Dei, Gib- son Southern, North Posey, Princeton, South Spencer and Wood Memorial. "When they heard they were in the new section- al, they were just heartbro- ken," said head coach Alisha Knight, whose team lost 8 - 0 to Evansville Mater Dei – the eventual state runner-up in Class A – in the regional finals. "I'm like, 'You guys said before that we can't win sectional, but you did it.'" "It might not be right away, but there's no reason they can't win this next sec- tional," Knight continued. "They have every opportu- nity to do it. They're a great group of girls. They've just got to get some little things down and they can go far. I'm a little biased, I think, but I think they're pretty tal- ented." While the Lady Char- gers lost just two seniors – Allison Sheffler and Shel- by Wininger – to gradua- tion this past spring, the team will also be without the services of rising se- nior Presley Bryant, who has transferred to Owens- boro (Ky.) Apollo, and ris- ing senior Ally Sutherland, who has transferred to Her- itage Hills. A three-year starter at goalkeeper, Bryant record- ed 429 saves in goal – an av- erage of 23.3 per game – and was named honorable mention all-conference last season, while Sutherland – Knight's sister – dealt out four assists while playing a big role on the defensive end as well. "We have some big posi- tions to fill and we're still trying to figure out who's right for their spots, and then filling in those spots that we move those kids from," Knight said. "We have a lot of talented players and I don't think I'm going to have a problem filling any of those spots. It's just try- ing to figure out who mesh- es best with each other." However, the pain of those losses are soothed somewhat by the fact that the Lady Chargers' offense remains largely intact, as all six players who scored goals last season are returning. Leading the attack will be junior Madison Scott, who was named to the Pock- et Athletic Conference First Team for the second straight year after scoring 23 of the team's 38 goals – in 130 shot attempts – and as- sisting on two others. "You can't go wrong with a player like Madison," Knight said. "She's just one of those players that every- body remembers because she is just insane. I'm so glad she's back, obviously." "Without her on our team, we would be struggling," Knight added. "She's just one of those players you love to have on your team." Scott, Knight noted, has been named one of the team's captains – along with seniors Amber Dixon and Shelby Keith and junior Syd- ney Brooks – this season. "That's a big thing for her, because she's always been so quiet, and I've been wanting to give her that po- sition," Knight said. "I'm like, 'You earned that posi- tion, I just need you to speak up.' So this year, she's try- ing to talk a little bit more. We'll probably hear her say 10 more words than usual." Brooks, who scored nine goals – in 136 shot attempts – and dished out five assists last season, will split goal- keeper duties this year with freshman Kelsey Barrett. "With Sydney moving back in goal, that's going to hurt us a little bit, but Kelsey is someone that's probably going to end up re- placing her when she is in goal, and they're going to ro- tate," Knight said. "That'll save Sydney for second half, so she's not going to be as tired as their forwards. We feel like we're going to have kind of a fresh player com- ing out. I think, with some- one with Sydney's energy, that's going to be awesome for us." Knight described Brooks as a "very good" goalkeeper. "She's just as good at goalie as she is at forward," Knight said. "She's huge. She's like the most positive person on our field, at all times. She's always pump- ing the girls up." Knight said that Barrett, despite her size, has shown great promise at the goal- keeping position. "She's short, so she's got quite a bit of space be- tween her and the top bar," Knight said. "That's the on- ly problem we're running in- to with the goalie spot. Oth- er than that, it just clicked. You either get it or you don't, and she got it. With a little more work, she can be a re- ally good goalie, but you can tell she's so used to being out in the field. She's like, 'Am I going to play goalie the WHOLE game? '" "We'd like to use her to let Sydney rest up and switch back and forth," Knight add- ed. "I think she'll give us more scoring opportunities, too. She was pretty good in middle school." Also returning is sopho- more Taylor Deffendoll, who netted three goals – in 74 shot attempts – and dished out five assists). "She's huge at forward," Knight said. "She's quick. She's got an awesome shot, if we can get her to control it. She wants to kick field goals. I've got to get her to control it, kind of be aware of where the goal is. She's got like a little hop step that we're working on, because if you stop thinking about it so much and shoot, I think she would be more controlled." "She helps Madison out, she helps Sydney out, be- cause she's someone their defense has to be aware of," Knight said. "She's going to come up there just as fast as they are. If we can get her and Madison and Sydney passing good, they're an unstoppable trio up there. Between them, that's a lot of speed. All three of them have extremely hard shots. We're trying to focus a lit- tle less on trying to shoot it as hard as we can through the net and more on trying to place it. That's, like, been a big thing this year." Dixon received honorable mention all-conference rec- ognition last season after scoring one goal and dish- ing out four assists. "She controls the field," Knight said. "She's a big player for us. I think she's kind of overlooked some- times, just because she doesn't score a lot, but she's my center midfield and she kind of controls everything. Everybody kind of relies on her. They know she knows what she's doing." Keith, meanwhile, will see a lot of action on the de- fensive end, Knight said. "She's just one of those players that her teammates look up to," Knight said. "They jokingly say they're scared of her, but it's just because she's just serious all the time. She kind of has that air about her that they know when Shelby says it, you need to go do it." "She's a defensive play- er, but she's someone I can move up front," Knight add- ed. "But, defensively, she's just strong, and she's go- ing to be big for us back on defense this year, filling in spots for Ally and Allison. She's going to help us out a lot back there." Senior Katherine Young, who scored one goal and dished out one assist last season, will see a lot of ac- tion on the offensive end of the field. "We've nicknamed her 'Noodle Legs' because she like bends in these crazy ways and she gets through, like, insane amounts of defense, and I think she doesn't even know how she did it," Knight said. "When we need fresh legs or we need someone to wear their defense out, she does that for us." Junior Bri Schaller is expected to fill a key role on defense, according to Knight. "She's super fast and su- per strong," Knight said. "We get beat, Bri can usu- ally catch up with them. She is just quick. She's not afraid to take a hit. I think she'll probably be playing our cen- ter defense this year. That's a new position for her so we've got to work on it, but I think it's going to go well for her. She's one of those that I can push up pretty far, above half field, and she can still get back without getting her butt kicked. She's taken me down I don't know how many times at practice." Junior Alley Rich is anoth- er returner on the defensive end for the Lady Chargers. "She's going to be a major part of our defense again," Knight said. "I think I'm going to move her out to a wing this year. She's super strong. She uses her body really well. I think with this new lineup, she's going to be just super helpful for those girls who are getting moved back to mid-field or the mid- defense. She's kind of a lead- er back on defense." Junior Michaela Greener will be moving into a start- ing position at sweeper this season, Knight said. "She controlled section- als," Knight said. "Every single game she was there, she played the best defense of her life. I don't think any balls got by her at any point. If you had to pick a player for sectional last year that you needed that player or you wouldn't have won, it would have been her." "So this year, we need that level at all times, every sin- gle game, not just section- als," Knight added. We're working on it, because if we have that, they're not going to have as many opportuni- ties to score, because she's just insane back there when she gets going." Junior Amy Chastain, who had one goal and two assists last season, will get opportunities this season on offense. "She's really good with making good runs, get- ting up there, giving us a shot opportunity," Knight said. "She's going to help us out this year, hopefully get more than one (goal), get rolling on it." Another returning junior is Abby Hess. "Abby is someone we're going to pull off our bench," Knight said. "She can play any position. Extremely up- beat, she's kind of goofy. We give her a hard time all the time, but she's just a great body to have out on the field." Junior Nicole Griffith will see action on the defensive side of the ball. "Every year, she im- proves," Knight said. "She just keeps getting better. I'd like to work her up a lit- tle bit on maybe midfield of- fense a little bit, just move her around. I think she has the ability to do it. I just have to convince her she has the ability to do it. So we'll use her a lot on defense. She