NASHVILLE — The five senior White House Heritage girls soccer players had their season come to an end in the sectional round to Christ Presbyterian Academy again Saturday night when the Lady Lions blanked the Lady Patriots 5-0.
Jackie Davis moves the ball down the field.
For the five seniors, this was the third time they’ve made it to the sectional round only to come up one win shy of a state berth.
“I really hate it for them, but they’ve all left quite a legacy here at Heritage,” Heritage coach Rett Roach said. “They all made big contributions in their time here and they are leaving us all with a blueprint to get to where we want to get in the future.”
Here are five things the remaining players learned from Saturday’s loss to CPA:
1 – It’s coming a year too late for the Heritage seniors, but this is the last time CPA will pose a roadblock for the Lady Patriots. Because of the reclassification, CPA will be entering Division II and Heritage is slated to be one of the two smallest schools in ‘AA’. However, there is talk that a few ‘A’ schools won’t be fielding a team, which could mean that Heritage may be playing in that division next year.
2 – The young players – Heritage has five to six girls starting who are freshmen or younger – got a lot of experience this year. Getting to the sectional round allowed the younger starters to see some of the best teams in the state. That said, coach Roach said the best the Lady Patriots have seen this year was in their district. That team: White House.
3 – The addition of goalkeeper coach Eduardo Esparza has already paid dividends. “I’ve never played goalkeeper, so it was always hard for us to train new goalkeepers,” Roach said. “We really didn’t have what we needed back there when we started this year, but now goalkeeper is one of our strengths, and that’s totally because of him and all his hard work this season.
4 – Freshman Alex Green has made a smooth transition from a defender to a striker. Coming into this season Green has always been a defender, but Roach felt like he could work with her and make her into one of the best strikers in the state. Roach doesn’t regret that decision.
5 – Heritage has its starting goalkeeper for the next four years. Faith Redding, who is in the eighth grade this year, has shown that she’s not afraid of the big stage, making big save after big save. Roach thinks she’ll only get better from here and she’ll have the next four years to do so.