Waterloo girls soccer team has chance to duplicate boys’ Class 2A state championship

Could the Waterloo High girls soccer team follow the path set by its male counterparts?

The Bulldogs won the Class 2A boys state championship last fall. The girls, coming off a 20-4 season in 2015, are 2-2-1 this spring heading into a game against Highland on Thursday.

“I don’t know if it ever has (been done),” Bulldogs coach Chad Holden said of a boys and girls soccer team from the same school winning state titles in the same academic year. “We know there’s some very good teams out there, so it would be a hard feat to accomplish. The girls have joked around in private a little bit, but there are just so many good teams in this area.

“Girls soccer has come a long way since we started our program in 2000. It’s not just the number of teams that have soccer now, but the talent. I remember when we started the program, there were still a lot of schools that didn’t have girls soccer. We’ve seen that landscape change and see girls starting to play year-round. It’s awesome to see.”

Waterloo’s losses came 4-0 against Rochester and 3-0 against Edwardsville in the Adidas Division of the Metro Cup Tournament. Rochester is the defending state champion in Class 1A that has graduated this season to Class 2A; Edwardsville is a contender to win the Southwestern Conference championship.

Waterloo returns many of the same players from last season when it finished second to Triad in the Mississippi Valley Conference. The Bulldogs won 12 in a row from April 14 until May 8, then lost two of their last three games to Triad, both by scores of 1-0.

Despite being blessed with experience, the Bulldogs have just four seniors. One of them is midfielder Erika Lloyd, who ranks third all-time in career goals at Waterloo with 55. Lloyd trails only Cassie Kaiping (84) and Katie Yearian (83).

“She’s been playing since her freshman year,” Holden said of Lloyd, who also has 41 career assists. “She’s very similar to Kane (Osterhage). She has speed, she reads the game well and she’s had four years of experience. Everybody knows about her, but she’s still able to perform. She’s a workhorse; she can cover a lot of ground. She’s a great leader and has a great foot.”

Osterhage had 31 goals and 21 assists to lead the boys team to its state championship. He subsequently was named the News-Democrat’s Player of the Year. Both Osterhage and Lloyd have signed to play at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville.

Other seniors for the Bulldogs are defender Sydney Ratz, midfielder Sidney Metzger and forward Alexis Wheeler.

Sophomore Sydney Luedeman is back after contributing 13 goals and eight assists last year when she was the second-leading scorer to Lloyd (17 goals, 12 assists). Ludeman has two goals this season, as does junior Mollie Zeisset and sophomore Sydney Bockhorn.

“She can shoot from long range. She’s got a great shot,” Holden said of Ludeman.

Defense is a strength, with Ratz, sophomores Dani Mauer and Sierra Berg and junior Heather Elliott. Mauer and Berg control the middle, with Ratz and Elliott on the wings.

“People think of a defense as not giving up goals, but they’re able to make runs from the back and help us out with the attack,” Holden said. “They’re a good group. They see the entire field and their distribution is key to the attack. At the same time, we need them to make sure people are marked and not giving up any goals.”

Sophomore Bailey Bosler is the top goalie with help from freshman Hillary Kaniecki. Junior Kathryn Finnerty, whose main sport is volleyball, adds depth at goalie.

Triad takes aim

Coach Matt Bettlach’s Knights already have provided proof that they will be a difficult opponent for any team in the metro-east.

Triad is 4-1-1 overall, with two of its wins coming 2-1 in overtime against Alton Marquette and Edwardsville in the Adidas Division of the Metro East Cup. The Knights’ lone defeat in the tournament was a 1-0 decision to Rochester, the powerhouse of the Central State Eight Conference. The Knights’ tie came 2-2 against Granite City at GCS Ballpark in Sauget.

“Everybody’s on the same page right now,” Bettlach said. “I wouldn’t say we’re exactly clicking on all cylinders, but we are playing good soccer. I hope we can keep it going.”

Juniors Sam Bassler and Meaghan Smith scored goals in the season-opening victory against Marquette. Sophomore Jody Ellis and freshman Molly Seuss scored against Edwardsville. Smith and senior Allison Wendt each have five goals and three assists to lead Triad.

“She’s got speed, she’s got the ability to shoot the ball from anywhere and she’s very dangerous with her throw-in,” Bettlach said of Wendt, who had 12 goals and 13 assists last season. “When she has a throw-in, it’s like another corner kick for us.

“Meaghan Smith (14 goals, three assists in 2015) is very dynamic. She has the ability to shoot the ball and she plays with such tenacity. She loves the game; she loves to battle.”

Smith, who plays forward and midfielder, has verbally committed to Illinois-Chicago.

Wendt (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville), a midfielder, is one of five Triad seniors who have signed to play in college. The others are goalie Skye Clark (Missouri-St. Louis), defender Meagan Simmons (Lake Land), goalie Gabby Kayser (Mississippi College) and forward Brianna Merchant (Parkland), who is out for the season with an injury to her right ankle.

Bettlach credits Clark and Kayser for making the goaltending situation a non-issue. Both possess enough ability to be able to stake a claim on the starting job, but are comfortable with Bettlach’s timeshare program in which they play half of every game.

“I’m very fortunate as a coach to have two goalkeepers with their talent,” Bettlach said. “They each get a chance to start and they each get a chance to finish the game. They both love it. They both have a chance to play in every game. That means they’ve got to get ready and get focused just like everybody else does.”

Back to state?

Collinsville finished fourth in the Class 3A state tournament last year and would like an opportunity to make a return trip to Naperville.

The Kahoks are 3-0-1 and have outscored foes 10-2. But they will be without versatile senior Kitty Besserman for the season and are waiting for junior Alynnah O’Leary to return to health. News-Democrat Player of the Year Sophia Sharos, meanwhile, graduated from a team that finished 21-5-1 last year. Sharos had 17 goals and 10 assists as a senior.

O’Leary, who broke two vertabrae in her back in a collision with the goal post Thursday against Edwardsville, is one of several talented offensive players. Others include senior Hanna Liljegren, juniors Andrea Frerker, Emily Holten and Tayler Devine, and sophomores Jalyn Richardson and Emma Knoebel. Holten had 14 goals and 13 assists last season.

“We have some offensive weapons, and that’s what I’m happy about,” Collinsville coach Clay Smith said. “We’re struggling right now to find our chemistry. But it will come. All teams struggle at some point with scoring. Hopefully, this is our only struggle of the year ... and we catch some good breaks going forward.

“Frerker and Holten are a big key to the middle of our field. They’re solid players and they’re veterans now. And they were a big part of our team last year, so they know what it takes. Losing (O’Leary) will slow us down a little bit, but hopefully she can get back and help us out. She’s a threat going forward on that left side.”

Defensively, the Kahoks are staunch again with seniors Chayse Richardson and Caydren Jones and juniors Dayle McEwen and Danielle Knutson. Richardson’s flip throws remain a weapon.

Both goalies, senior Julie Scheiter and junior Morgan Lerch, are back. Smith said they are nearly even in ability, and both will play key roles in the Kahoks’ success.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Waterloo girls soccer team has chance to duplicate boys’ Class 2A state championship."