There’s no question the Mountain Ridge girls soccer team is a playoff hungry bunch.
They are constantly motivating one another in practice to remain locked in. Even when messing around at times, they are able to quickly regain focus and put maximum effort into each drill. Wednesday’s practice was preparation for what Mountain Lion coach Peter Evans described as the team’s toughest stretch of games.
Over the course of the next 10 days, Mountain Ridge will play home matchups against local rivals Liberty and Sandra Day O’Connor.
“We have a talented team with a great mix of seniors and underclassmen, and we believe we can play at their level” said Evans, who is entering his third year as coach.
That mindset of hard work is also shared by the seniors on the team. Madalyn Wnenta said the team looks forward to games of this caliber, as most of the girls play on local club teams with one another.
“Playing against our friends and teammates is always a good time and it pushes us even harder,” Wnenta said.
The strong work ethic can be witnessed first-hand, as Wnenta, Emma Schafer and Sydney Mikes – team captains this season – made it a point to push one another in each drill. The trios main focus for the day was on the freshmen player making the jump to varsity. At this point of the season, they’re still only two games in.
Wnenta highlighted the importance of bridging the gap between the younger players and seniors, and how they continue to make an effort to help them on a daily basis.
“We will take them out to eat, pay for their meals, hangout outside of school to make them feel more comfortable with the team,” Wnenta said.
Schafer added how that friendship off the field translates to practice and games.
“We push them in each drill,” she said. “They are the future, and we want to create a hardworking environment to pass on.”
The camaraderie between the girls of all grade levels on the team is important to Evans.
“I’m happy with the seniors and juniors who are helping the freshmen and sophomores,” he said. “They are the future, and the upperclassmen know that we’re all working towards making it past the play-in round and into the round of 16 and we need all on the team to help reach it.
“Getting them the varsity experience now helps them adjust to the speed and toughness that playing in a hard region and conference entails, they can help lead as they progress in their skills.”
Mountain Ridge continues its season Thursday night on the road at Pinnacle at 6 p.m.
