PikeView soccer is experience-laden

GARDNER — The memories of their first trip to the state tournament late last fall still animates the PikeView girls soccer team. Having tasted the playoffs, they have a thirst for an even better result this year.

“The feeling of going to the state was absolutely awesome,” senior goalkeeper Amanda Presley said Monday afternoon.

The Panthers reached the state semifinals where they played Weir to a scoreless tie in regulation, then lost 2-0 in overtime.

“That means we’ve got to step up our game,” said senior Mariah Farley, a first-team all-state selection in 2009. “We can’t do just as well; we’ve got to do better. We’ve put in a lot of hard work, but hopefully we’ll make it up there again, and to even better this time.”

Coach Sam Hill said, “The excitement and enthusiasm is palpable. The girls have been talking about it since last year. ... The enthusiasm, the drive, on the field has been contagious.”

“We’ve had a handful of girls, much like the guys, who made the commitment this spring to play club soccer, which certainly contributed to their growth as soccer players coming into this fall.”

PikeView’s girls lost just one starter due to graduation, but that one player, Tara Hazelwood, was the Class AA state defender of the year. Hill commented that she was “obviously a quality player, and creates a hole in the field.”

There is a variety of choices to put in that hole. “I think we’ve got the athletic ability and the technical ability and flexibility to be able to do that,” Hill said. “We have 13 girls on the roster who have pretty much been full-time starters their entire career.”

The 10 remaining starters from last season have been rejoined by Charlotte Webster, a freshman starter last year, who was injured in the third game of the season.

Two seniors who started their first two varsity years, Chelsea East and Hannah Jennings, did not play last fall but have returned to the team.

“We’ve got lots of experience,” Hill said. “It’s going to be a matter of sorting out the positions.”

“We have 20 girls total this year, including a handful of freshmen,” Hill said. He noted that freshman Hope Nester is “a fantastic athlete and will certainly be a contributor right off the bat.”

That makes 14 potential starters. Hill said, “Now, which 11 will begin the game is a different story.”

The team has eight seniors. Farley was all-state at midfielder but she could show up elsewhere.

“We have such versatility from many of our players,” Hill said. “As an example, Mariah literally can play any position on the field.”

Fellow midfielder Kiersten White made honorable mention all-state. The senior “could drop back into the defense some,” Hill said.

Presley got her first experience in goal as an emergency fill-in while a freshman. She’s still there, going into her senior year.

“She has more than stepped up to the plate,” Hill said. “She took to the position and she’s embraced it. That’s a tough position.”

The coach said the girls’ abilities will allow for more strategic moves. The usual 4-4 alignment will occasionally shift to having three forwards. “We have the type of players that we can shift to a more attacking formation and be successful,” he said.

Other personnel moves may be more subtle.

“There’s the opportunity for players to be in different positions from time to time,” Hill said. “The formation itself may not change that much ... but it’ll make us look like a different team.”

He is also happy to note, “On average, we will have better speed than most of the teams we face.”

Farley said, “I have the utmost confidence in my teammates. I’m so excited about what we can accomplish. If we work hard, we can do amazing things with our talent.”

Presley said, “My teammates — they focus. They know what they need to get done. They don’t ride on their talent; they know what they need to work on to get even better, to help the team. And we go from there.”

• • •

The Panthers return an experienced core on the boys squad as well. Hill, who coaches both the boys and the girls, said, “We’ve got seven seniors, five of whom have started all four years that we’ve been here.

“That’s awfully exciting, to have that type of experience. A couple of juniors have started three years. We’re a fairly experienced team going into the season, and we’re looking forward to putting that experience to good work.”

The boys are building on what they’ve learned in past years, the coach said.

“Just one week in, watching the kids just as we scrimmage — some of the combinations they come up with, some of the ideas they have as they play, it’s exciting to see it, because they are things they’re doing that they weren’t even doing last year.”

He observed that several on the team played club soccer or attended a soccer camp and he can see that experience “carrying onto the field. ... We’re much farther along.”

Seniors Casey Weatherly and Josh Hill were named to the all-state second team by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association last fall.

Weatherly said about this year’s unit, “We’re in shape, physically and mentally. We’re looking good.”

Josh Hill said, “Everyone expects to have a lot of success.”

The boys finished 10-7-2 last season, ending with the sectional championship match won by James Monroe.

“We were a bit disappointed with that end of the season, because we thought we had the opportunity to advance further,” Sam Hill said.

The Panthers lost two seniors, goalkeeper Aaron Nash and central defender Justin Matherly.

“We have five freshmen this year, and certainly a couple of them we will depend on to contribute right away,” the coach said.

Hill noted the work of seniors Alejandro Porras and Joe Webb. “They’ve been key contributors for us,” the coach said.

There is depth in the front of the formation. Weatherly has 51 goals in three years. Sam Hill said, “His running-mate is Will Webster, one of our juniors. In his two years, he’s got 32 (goals). We have lots of experience up top.

“And one of our incoming freshmen, Fernando Porras, he’s got the capability to play there, and one of our juniors, Tyler Cook, we also anticipate him being part of our rotation as well.”

The defense is, Sam Hill said, “a very fluid situation. Quite honestly, our entire back line, defenders and keeper included, we’re still trying to sort a lot of that out. That’s where we’re going to be most inexperienced, (in) some of the more key positions on the field.”

Asked about team speed, he said, “Relatively speaking, there are a lot of fast kids out there. But we certainly have a lot of high-quality athletes. That’s going to found in the midfield area — Jordan Calfee, Josh Hill ... are two of our better athletes, 6-1, 6-2, big strong boys.

“And we’ve been lifting weights our entire career with these young men since (they were) freshmen. That weight training is paying off.

“We’re not going to out-run a lot of people. Nor do I think we’re going to be out-run, either. I think we have enough athletes in those key areas to allow us to be successful.”

The season starts with five games in nine days, starting Aug. 20. That’s just fine with Josh Hill.

“I like to keep the season moving,” he said. “There’s never a dull moment when you’ve got a game every other day.”

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com

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