Junior Annabella Snyder scored twice for the Lady Wave.
Photos by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
Dailyadvocate.com
GREENVILLE — The Greenville boys and girls soccer team hosted West Carrollton on September 18 at Harmon Field.
The girls team started the night off with their cancer game. The team dedicated the game to raise money for the Cancer Association of Darke County and to honor past head coach Dave Ernst who passed away with cancer a year ago.
Head coach John Tabler said this was a great opportunity for the girls to show people that cancer affects more than just the person who has it and how anyone can gain strength to help others in those moments.
“Dave’s legacy is here and I don’t think it will never leave. He had such an impact on these young ladies. Hopefully, in the years to come the tradition, the idea of why we have this one night a year continues,” Tabler said.
The Lady Wave came out aggressive and won the game 9-0 over the Lady Pirates for their first win of the season. It was a perfect way to honor Ernst’s impact on the program.
“I’m really proud of our team. I’m proud of this night. Dave’s impact on me was huge. What a evening we got to have and the girls get to honor him and what impact he had on us,” Tabler said.
Greenville led 2-0 after the first five minutes of the game. Sophomore Carlee Yundt and junior Annabella Snyder both scored a goal in that span.
Sophomore Sami Elam and junior Jayda Lyons both got in on the scoring in the first half with each scoring a goal. Greenville led 4-0 at halftime.
The Lady Wave spent most of the first half in the offensive zone. They were aggressive around the net and their defense was doing a great job keeping the ball out of their own zone. Tabler said it was a great defensive effort by their defenders like junior captain Cheyanne Gear and junior Jocelyn Reier.
The team kept up their scoring in the second half. Elam scored her second goal of the game at the 37 minute mark. Snyder then followed that up with her second goal of the game. Both players were hunting for the hat trick, but came up short of it.
At the start of the second half, junior Rachel Wright was taken out of the goal and played as a defender. Sophomore Brooklyn Crampton came in as the goalie. At the 12 minute mark, Wright came down the field on a corner kick and got a shot off that found the back of the net to give Greenville a 7-0 lead.
Tabler said this game helped give the team confidence that they can score and that the whole team can contribute to getting on the scoreboard.
“We’ve got girls who we knew were capable of scoring, it was just them having enough confidence in themselves to go fight and be aggressive when that ball is down by the goal. I don’t know how many different girls scored tonight, about six or seven. To have that many girls score goals just builds us up and gives us the confidence that I think we’ve missed a little bit,” Tabler said.
Junior captain Jada Moore and sophomore Kaylin Bradburn both found the back of the net in the final ten minutes of the game. While the defense got some more work in the second half, they continued to shut down the West Carrollton offense as Crampton made a few saves to preserve the shut out.
Then it was the boys turn against the Pirates. The team got off to a shaky start as West Carrollton scored a goal at the 36 minute mark. Then later in the first half, the Pirates scored two goals in two minutes.
Head coach Brad Feldner said the team is still getting better and they just need to keep working at it. They have to find a way to stay sharp for the whole game and eliminate some of the lapses.
“We’ve got to be spot on for 40 minutes each half. If you get down for a few minutes or lose concentration that’s the result. I think we’re still improving from what we saw last year. The scores are a lot different. It’s still not the result we want,” Feldner said.
West Carrollton led 3-0 at halftime. The Green Wave didn’t give in after that stretch and kept up their aggressive play.
Then at the start of the second half, West Carrollton quickly struck with two goals in a minute. It was another lapse that inflated the final score.
But, Greenville didn’t give up. They kept their heads in the game and fought back. The team was getting good looks on offense and at times got behind the Pirates defense. Junior Jiji Jim, freshman Rylan Grosch and junior Ross McRill were getting down the field to set up a scoring opportunity. They were just one play off from getting on the scoreboard.
“Just that one extra touch, that one extra pass and it’s there. We just keep trying,” Feldner said.
West Carrollton added one more goal late in the second half for a 6-0 win. For Greenville, it was another game where the improvement showed. They just need some more experience for it to translate on the scoreboard.
The Lady Wave are now 1-8 with a 1-5 MVL record. They will next play at Fairborn on September 24 for a 7 p.m. start. The Green Wave are now 0-8 with an 0-5 MVL record. They will also be at Fairborn on September 24 and play before the girls team at 5:30 p.m.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].
