Miles spurns Arkansas, will remain with LSU
December 4, 2012
Saints fall because of mistakes; NSU outmatched
December 4, 2012
The Vandebilt Catholic girls’ soccer team is a mixture of young and old this season with both seniors and eighth graders within its starting lineup.
But so far, that mix has worked great – it’s a chemistry the Lady Terriers hope to ride to a state championship.
With a blend of both experienced players and new, but talented contributors, Vandebilt is again one of the top teams in Louisiana.
That talent was on full display this week as the Lady Terriers earned victories against Fontainebleau and Helen Cox.
“We have another strong group,” Vandebilt coach Philip Amedee said. “We have a strong group of seniors accompanied by a solid group of younger players. It just speaks of the depth that we have and how fortunate we are to have that type of depth here.”
For a lot of teams, the mix of youth and experience would be like oil and water – it wouldn’t mix.
But both Amedee and the players involved said the transition has been seamless. The coach said he has created a big sister program where the senior class has taken the initiative to help the eighth-grade players acclimate to the prep game.
The results have been one of the closest-knit teams the long-time Vandebilt coach said he’s ever had.
“I know this may sound weird, but this is a family – that’s what it is,” Amedee said. “The older players have taken the younger players under their wings. We made the big sister program to try and keep that continuity with our team. It’s really worked out well. Our older players take care of the younger ones, and the younger ones really respect them for it. It’s a great thing.”
“We’ve all stepped it up,” senior Makelle Pena said. “We have a lot of younger kids on the team, but our senior class is pretty large. Us mixed together, we’ve been coming out in practices and working and getting our minds ready and focused.”
Offense is arguably the strong-suit of this year’s Vandebilt team.
The Lady Terriers possess the ability to dominate the ball throughout the duration of a game. With it, the team has a knack for finding the back of the net with its shots.
Against Fontainebleau, Pena recorded a pair of goals, while fellow senior Carly Ellender added another.
Senior Kimberly Grasso added an assist in that 3-1 win. She is more than capable of putting the ball in the net on a given night when needed.
A night later against Helen Cox, Pena added two more, as the Lady Terriers pounded its opponent in a 9-0 victory – a game where the team’s starters sat for half of the game after Vandebilt rolled to a big early lead.
Amedee said when things are clicking for his team, they will be able to score a slew of goals.
“That’s always sort of been our M.O. – we apply a lot of pressure,” Amedee said. “We try and keep the ball on their side of the field. We have a lot of good playmakers and finishers and we try to come forward and put as many shots on goal as we can.”
“Our offense is so strong this year,” Ellender said. “It’s because of the way that we prepare at practice. We work hard. We don’t ever slack. It’s always tough practices. Between the seniors who are showing great leadership and the eighth graders who are always going hard and making everyone better, it’s making us a better team.”
Pena and Ellender both mentioned practice – there’s a reason why the Lady Terriers are busting tail away from the playing field.
The Lady Terriers have advanced to the LHSAA Division II State Championship match for five-straight seasons.
But in each of the past three seasons, the team has been stopped short of its goal and has finished as the state runner-up. In the past two seasons, the game has been decided by just one goal.
Pena and Ellender both said they have a simple, two-pronged goal for the season.
The first step is to again advance to the state championship game. Once there, the second prong would be to walk off the field in celebration following the final game of the season.
The players said they discuss the failures of the previous three seasons “all of the time” and they are focused on coming out on top this year.
“That’s not just something we’ll think about during the playoffs – that’s something that’s in our minds throughout the whole process of it all,” Ellender said. “From the first week all the way to the last week, we plan to work hard and bust our butts. We always talk about it. We have senior meetings where we talk about what we have to work on to get there and to win it this time.”
“Another thing that pushes you is that, ‘Hey, this is your senior year,’” Pena said. “You just say to yourself that this is the last time you’re going to play on this field and the last time that you’re going to wear this jersey. To do this, you’ve got to give everything that you can. You don’t want any regrets.”
Amedee said he believes this year’s bunch is more than capable of winning the last one and returning the team to its mark as state champions.
“Oh yeah – they’re capable of doing it,” the coach said. “We’ll need to keep working and we’ll need to catch a break or two along the way, but we’re more than capable of doing it. We know that.”
“That’s definitely our biggest goal,” Pena added. “We know what it feels like to come up short. We definitely don’t want to ever feel that way again. It’s up to us to make sure that this season ends different.”
Vandebilt Catholic eighth-grader Grace Champagne works the ball up the field during last week’s game against Helen Cox. The Terriers believe that they have a team capable of winning the state title after three-straight seasons as state runner-ups.
