Returning Lady Indians fill out the soccer field
In less than two weeks, the Lady Indians’ soccer team will pick up where they left off last season, with hopes of advancing past the second round of the state championship, where Ursuline awaited in 2009 to vanquish the Indians’ post-season dreams. This year, Indian River is returning plenty of talent, but they’re doing it without some integral athletes from last season’s squad.
Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
Coach Steve Kilby demonstrates ball possesion and technique during a recent practice.
“We lost some great players in Kaitlin Binstead, Courtney Lake and Sarah Purdum, our senior captains,” said IR’s head soccer coach, Steve Kilby. “We also lost [senior] Kate Hauck. We looked to them last year, and we will be relying on our seniors again this year.”
Lauren Parramore, Alex Roenke and Morgan Warrington will assume the role of co-captains for this year’s squad as a strong group of juniors return for more, as well.
“The majority of our team is juniors,” Kilby noted. “We’ve got 10 of them on the team. We’re really stacked in that class, and, fortunately, many of these girls have played in the River Soccer Club program, which has been a benefit for our club and for their abilities.”
Scrimmages at the start of this season have given Kilby and his team a chance to blend the returning talent on the pitch with some new faces, such as sophomore Cindy Cruz.
“We’re looking for Cindy to help us out a lot this year,” said Kilby. “I’d like to combine what she brings with Marissa Adkins, Delaney Davis and Miranda Warrington up front.”
Some pre-season scrimmages helped the team come together, as well as showcasing some out-of-conference competition – competition that has, in years past, ultimately been the team’s downfall in the DIAA state tournament at the conclusion of the season.
“We got to see some of the other teams, like Charter, A.I. DuPont and Middletown,” said Kilby. “They all played well, and these are the teams we’ll have to face going into the state tournament.”
The post-season loss to Ursuline capped the Lady Indians’ record at 14-3 overall last year, with losses coming earlier in the season against Caesar Rodney and conference contender Delmar.
“We let some games get away from us last year,” said Kilby, “and we’re looking to fix those mistakes. We’ve got a high level of maturity, and we’re hoping that helps us.”
Goalkeeper Sara Long anchors the net again for the Lady Indians, and Roenke will be stepping in at defense, assuming her role from last year.
“We’re really looking for Alex to work well in the back again, while finding another player to develop in that spot,” he added. “Sara [Long] did a really nice job as a sophomore goalie for us, and it’s great to have her back again. There’s a lot of potential on this year’s team.”
This year’s schedule opens up with Dover, who fell to the Lady Indians 4-1 early in the season last year, but Kilby said his team has to be ready to play.
“Dover is always tough competition,” he said. “Smyrna was a tournament team, too. The Delmar game later in the year is always a good one. That team gets up for us. They’ll likely be our divisional rival again. Caesar Rodney has typically been a stumbling point, too, and we want to move past them in the near future.”
The Lady Indians will host Dover on Tuesday, March 23, to kick off the spring soccer season. Next Friday, March 19, the girls will head to Padua Academy for a preseason scrimmage at 3:30 p.m.
