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October 23, 2003 |
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SPORTS ’Dogs go to district championship The YSHS boys soccer team beat two teams last week to advance to the Division III district championships for the second year in a row. The Bulldogs streaked past Franklin-Monroe with a 6–1 win last Thursday, Oct. 16. Then on Monday, Oct. 20, the team whipped Greenon 4–2. The ’Dogs face Springfield Catholic Central at the YSHS field at 7 p.m. tonight, Thursday, Oct. 23. Last year the two teams faced off at Springfield’s home field for the district title, and the Bulldogs fell 4–1. Fast feet and chivalry ruled Thursday’s home game under a cold drizzle, when the Bulldogs dominated from start to finish. Scott Keyes scored the first goal 20 minutes into the game with a long boot from mid-field. The ’Dogs hovered hungrily around Franklin’s goal for the rest of the night, putting in two more goals from Rory Hotaling and Duncan Silvert-Noftle before the half. Not five minutes back on the field, Michael Hosket and Keyes scored back-to-back goals, with assists from Silvert-Noftle and Hosket. Kevin Carr had the last goal on a pass from Silvert-Noftle. Bulldog keeper Matt Phillips had a lonely game, and with ten minutes left on the clock, a changing of the guard sent John Pamplin into goal, just as two of Franklin’s players were traded out for ones fresh from the bench. The Bulldogs had little trouble keeping Greenon down on Monday. Silvert-Noftle scored the first two goals, one on a direct free kick and the other on a penalty kick, after Keyes, then Noah Woodburn, were tripped on their way to the Greenon goal. Silver-Noftle scored once more to put YS up 3–0 before the half. Twenty minutes into the second half, Silvert-Noftle headed in a loose ball for the team’s fourth goal of the night. Several players were traded in toward the end of the game, and Greenon slipped two goals past the YS defense before the game was over. “Post-season games are always good games because the teams are coming out knowing it could be their last game,” Phillips said after Thursday’s game. “We’re hoping to get to state finals, and anything is possible with this team if we play well.”
Soccer girls learn more than just the game
Whether it’s the difference between men and women or it’s just a Yellow Springs thing, relationships on the Yellow Springs High School girls soccer team are taken very personally. At times, emotions ran so high that it may have cost the Lady Bulldogs a game or two during their season. Looking back over their season, which ended last week at 8–8–2, three of the team’s leaders, junior striker Emily Foubert, junior goalie Lila Jensen, and freshman striker Erin Silvert-Noftle, reflected on the obstacles the 19 players and their coaches hurdled in order become a better unit, and a winning team. The YS girls soccer players came into their 2003 season bearing on their shoulders the burden of last year’s losing record. As a relatively inexperienced team with two freshman starters and some players who had barely kicked a soccer ball before, no one knew what to expect or how to work together. And then they won the first two games of the season against Shawnee and Urbana. “Right off the bat, after those two wins, I realized how good we could be,” Foubert said. “I realized we were out here not only to have fun but to win sometimes, too.” But the fact that winning was a novelty still meant that the girls would have to overcome an inferiority complex, if not the one created from within, then the one placed upon them by others. “Yellow Springs doesn’t usually say we expect the girls soccer team to win,” Silvert-Noftle said of the team’s previous reputation. In order to turn themselves around, they would also have to learn how to communicate. Unlike some experienced teams or perhaps the YSHS boys soccer team, many of these girls do not respond positively to harsh criticism, they said. “We’re so small that the people on the team are your best friends or at least your close friends, and if I yell at someone for not marking, the next day at school they might be mad about it,” Jensen said. Though the criticism was never meant to cut anyone down, the girls said, some of the players experienced the “friendly advice” as a barking order and a personal affront. The girls had a hard time leaving their frustrations on the field, and it had a direct effect on their game. After their initial wins, the Lady ’Dogs had a rough first half of the season, and they dove into a mid-season slump with more losses than wins by the end of September. Around that time, coaches MacKenzie Reynolds and Sarah Wallis called a meeting. Some players expressed anger at being admonished and others explained that they had no idea they were criticizing. They pulled through it, the girls said, and got back on the field trusting one another. They started winning more, and feeling better, even when they lost. “The game against Troy Christian where we tied against a powerhouse in the conference was a big motivation for us,” Foubert said. Not wanting to polarize themselves against the boys team, the threesome acknowledged that girls sports, or at least their team, has an emotional side that needs to be addressed in order to function effectively as a unit. “We have a more emotional side, but that’s not bad, and it makes us closer,” Jensen said. “I could never picture the guys saying, ‘I feel like you weren’t supporting me . . .’ ” The experience doesn’t necessarily mean that when girls are aggressive on the field they are being masculine, or that girls are more emotional than guys, Silvert-Noftle said, trailing off in search of the right words. “We just have a different way of showing it,” Foubert said, jumping in to finish the thought. “Yeah, right, not bad, just different,” they all agreed. Though the girls team still had its good and bad days in the latter half of the season, what they learned about each other and themselves allowed them to feel better about their performance as a unit. They were able to rise and fall together, and they decided they liked the rising part the best. In their last tournament game against Lemon-Monroe last Thursday, the girls said everyone came ready to romp, and they came together as a team to play the best game of the season. “I remember running in, we had lost, but everyone was cheering,” Foubert said. “We were so happy because we came together and played the best we could.” The season was a huge success for girls soccer at the high school, no matter the score. And the team is poised for another round next year that is even better. “We’ll miss our seniors next year, but we still have really good players, and the stuff we worked through this year will carry over next year,” Silvert-Noftle said. “I’m really looking forward to next year, I definitely think it could be a good team,” Foubert said. —Lauren Heaton
Lady Bulldogs end season with style The YSHS girls soccer team finished up its season last week, winning the first sectional tournament game 8–0 on Monday, Oct. 13, against National Trail. The season ended three days later when the girls went up against Lemon-Monroe and lost 7–1. The team ended with a much improved record from last year, winning as many as they lost and tying two at 8–8–2. In the game against National Trail, Emily Foubert and Megan Burrick each scored three goals, with Burrick gathering two assists. Emily Dozeman also scored a goal for the Lady Bulldogs to start the tournament off with a big win. The defense was led by strong efforts from captain Rose Blakelock, Teressa Carver-Halley, Jennifer Smith, India Scarver, Olivia Smith and Kara Deardorf. The girls came out on fire Thursday for a tough game against Lemon-Monroe, which beat 2nd-seed Waynesville in the first round of the tournament. Yellow Springs got off to a rough start, letting four goals slip by in the first half. But in the last 17 minutes of the half, the girls pulled together a strong defense that held back the speedy Lemon-Monroe offense. Keeper Lila Jensen played one of the best games of her career with 14 goalie saves and the initiative to break up Monroe’s set plays numerous times. Blakelock logged a goal save of her own, and the defense worked together to minimize the number of shots on goal and clear the field for some great offensive runs. “This year’s team showed tremendous promise for years to come,” head coach MacKenzie Reynolds said. “The girls improved in every way imaginable, and the Lady Bulldogs came together as a team and played great soccer.” The team is graduating five seniors, Lydia Gerthoffer, Nathania Dallas, Monica Erickson, Blakelock and Carver-Halley, all of whom will be missed for their leadership and good attitudes about the game, Reynolds said. —Lauren Heaton
Volleyball girls finish the season The YSHS volleyball team traveled to Sidney last Tuesday, Oct. 14, to rally against Houston in the Division IV sectional tournament. Yellow Springs fell short with 4–15, 8–15. Yellow Springs finished the season with a 10–7 record at third place in the Metro Buckeye Conference. Team member Jenell Martin was selected for MBC’s first team and team member Evin Wimberly was selected for the conference’s second team. Martin was also awarded for good sportsmanship. The two players will be honored at the MBC fall banquet on Oct. 27.
YSHS harriers show well The YSHS cross country runners finished 8th out of 17 teams at the district finals at Springfield North High School this past Saturday, Oct. 11. Yellow Springs finished with 196 points, well ahead of local rivals Xenia Christian and Cedarville, but behind Fort Loramie and Troy Christian, who tied for first with 54. Carey Dixon placed 12th in the 3.1 mile race and was the only Bulldog to advance to the Southwestern Ohio Regional finals for the second consecutive year. Dixon ran a hard but conservative race, always among the lead pack of qualifiers, for a final time of 17:29. First-year harrier Samuel Borchers nearly joined his teammate as a qualifier with a 15th place finish in a time of 17:48. David Warren was injured but made an effort and finished 35th in 18:56, a time well off his best. Ninth-grader Matthew Marretta placed 85th and Zach Reichert posted a lifetime best of 25:01 for 89th place. In the girls race, Tina Peters suffered an off race, placing 28th in 23:01. Behind her Hillary Livingston and Romina Aguero had outstanding races. Livingston placed 60th in a near season best time of 26:04, and Aguero posted a lifetime best of 30:33, placing 73rd overall. Over 500 cross country runners from 26 schools came out to the 18th annual John Bryan Invitational last Tuesday, Oct. 14. The Bulldogs did not have enough runners to make a team, but Dixon took second in the boys race in 17:50. Borchers finished 6th for the Yellow Springs thin clads in 18:19, Maretta finished 114th and Reichert placed 155th. On the distaff side, Peters led for most of the first two miles on the strength of a 6:30 first mile. She held strong until the end, and placed 5th in her fastest time of the year, 22:02. Aguero placed 97th, and Rebecca Guest posted a lifetime best of 32:49 in 100th place. Youth basketball open gym for grades 5–12 Youth open gym will be held for basketball players in grades 5–12 from now through Nov. 10 at the Yellow Springs High School gym, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Contact Brad Newsome for more information at 767-7224.
Girls basketball clinic A girls basketball clinic will be held on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Bryan Community Center gym. The clinic is for girls in fourth, fifth and sixth grades and will consist of instruction, drills and scrimmage. Girls with experience and girls who are just getting started are encouraged to attend. It is also an opportunity to learn more about playing in the Kenton Trace Conference 5th/6th grade basketball league, which runs from mid-November through February. Contact Rich Miller at 767-2049 with questions.
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