Western soccer team, with eight freshmen, has chance to close out I-8 title
By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
Parma — It was a year ago the Western girls soccer team caught fire in the I-8 Conference soccer tournament and rode its hot streak to a championship game victory over Marshall.
But the Panthers placed third in the I-8 standings leading into that mini-postseason, and, as second-year coach Randi Greenslade put it, “I’m not sure when we last won a regular season conference title.”
Well, Greenslade and the Panthers have a chance to do just that over the next week or so.
And the fun begins Friday night against No. 7-ranked Lumen Christi at 6:30 p.m. at home.
“The main goal right now is to win the conference title,” Greenslade said. “We’re pretty set in doing what we do best. It’s gotten us to this point. We’re going to go out and play our game and see what happens.”
It’s worked all season for the Panthers, who as of Thursday afternoon, were 6-3-2 overall and 3-0-1 in the conference, alone in first place.
“We’re young but talented as a group,” Greenslade said. “Most of this team has played club soccer, and they love the game. They are hard working and have that desire to win.”
The strong record and solid standing in the conference also comes with a team that features eight freshmen on a roster with just three seniors.
“I always tell the kids the are no spots given,” Greenslade said of having such a youthful team. “I expect spots to be earned. The way it worked out, we had eight kids that happened to be freshmen that made the roster. They are a group that’s played for a while together, and they’ve had great training in the offseason. That is a big factor as well.”
It’s also a group, according to Greenslade, that’s played with the right approach all season too.
“We don’t play with fear,” she said. “They are told to go out and play their game. They’re a feisty group that plays with high pressure and forces a lot of turnovers. They look out for each other. They trust each other. There is plenty of confidence.”
It actually took the Panthers a few games to get going. The girls started the year with two losses and a tie in the first three games, getting outscored 3-0 over that span.
Since then, though, they’ve gone on a 6-1-1 run, scoring 21 goals while giving up just 10. And eight of those 10 goals came in an 8-0 loss to Dexter.
In four conference games so far, Annie Tallman has pitched four shutouts.
But the challenge, and reward, is about to shift to high gear.
After Friday’s game with Lumen, Western faces Jackson Saturday morning at 11:45 a.m. in a non-conference game, before traveling to play at Northwest at 6:45 p.m. May 18.
“It has to be one game at a time,” Greenslade said. “We have to survive Friday. That’s the main focus. Then we can worry about Jackson and then Northwest. We’ll cross each bridge as we get there.”
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’
Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.
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