The Lady Wave soccer team release their balloons up in the air prior to the game in celebration of Dave Ernst’s life.
Photos by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
Ernst’s family and friends gather on the field during the balloon launching ceremony.
Senior Kaelyn Gump pushes the ball down the field for one of many Greenville offensive attacks.
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
GREENVILLE — It was a day of remembrance on Sep. 27 at Harmon Field. The Greenville Lady Wave soccer team held a cancer awareness game against Fairborn in honor of head coach Dave Ernst, who passed away on Sep. 15.
Ernst’s family, friends and caretakers along with both teams participated in a balloon launching ceremony to honor him. They also raffled off donated gift baskets and had a 50/50 with the money going to the Cancer Association of Darke County.
Coach Caitlin Beasecker said the day was all about remembering Ernst and the impact he had on the program and the team.
“Tonight was all about honoring Dave and everything he has done for not only the girls that are here right now but the Lady Wave soccer program in general. Just the soccer program in general, with the boys and the girls. Tonight was about completely honoring him,” Beasecker said.
The girls played hard all game long and never gave up. They fell 5-0 to the Lady Skyhawks, but only allowed one goal in the second half.
Beasecker said the team has always been great at making the halftime adjustments. It goes back to what Ernst would always preach to his team.
“These girls are awesome. At halftime, they always come in and we share what we can work and what we can do better. They always go out and give their best. Dave always told them to win the second half. We may not always win the second half, but we always improve that second half,” Beasecker said.
The team also played in a new formation. Beasecker said they threw a brand new formation at them during practice last night. The Lady Wave only had about an hour of practice in the formation.
It seemed to be a good switch. Beasecker said there were a lot of good passing and trapping during the game as they did get the ball up the field for many offensive attacks.
The formation is about giving everyone support on the field.
“Coming out, John and I are pretty excited. We think that this was a positive formation to go on. Our goal was to give our forward players some more support and getting the ball up the field to them,” Beasecker said. “But as well as giving our defensive players some more support and letting them know they have people they can rely on if the ball were to get past them.”
The team is 1-10-2 on the season with a 1-5 conference record. They will host Stebbins on Oct. 2 for a 7 p.m. start time.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
