Chatting and laughter could be heard Tuesday night as players on the Jacksonville women's soccer team stretched for a few minutes during a cool-down session after a 9-0 win over New Bern.
The casual atmosphere continued as coach Amanda Pelch gathered the Cardinals to discuss their latest success, which has seen them jump to 4-0-2 overall despite an already difficult schedule.
Although the atmosphere hasn't changed dramatically, Pelch, who is in his fourth year as coach, took some time to highlight some of the small details he hopes the coaching staff will continue to work on to help the Cardinals continue to play well. I mentioned it over and over again.
“We have some good kids, so our overall goal is to not only prepare them to win this year, but prepare them for their college careers and other things down the road.” she said. “They’re already good, but to make them even better, we need to focus on the little things so we can get another 1 percent better down the road.”
Jacksonville certainly has a lot of talented players who will play in college after graduation. Seniors Regan Donnelly (North Carolina Asheville), Riley Donnelly (Mars Hill), Macy Helmstetter (Burton), Mackenzie Morrow (Navy) and Landin Wessels (Valparaiso) will play at the next level. After signing the contract, junior Aubrianna Martin committed to the University of Alabama. Azumi Oka, a fourth-year student at State University, is considering several college opportunities.
But while all of these players and the Cardinals are playing at a high level this high school season and on their club teams, Pelch still holds them all to a high standard.
“We're not doing our job as coaches if we send them back as soon as we find them,” she said. “Our goal is to make them better in every way. When you're good, it's easy to not want to stay good or be great. That's why we… will push them. We are solid, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
The Cardinals seem to embrace these challenges.
“They worked really hard and did a great job of stepping up and adding more intensity to their practices,” Pelch said. “We move non-stop. The coaches bring in lesson plans every day and the kids can hit the ground running right away. It’s nice to see the girls practice so hard in high school, They’re good at it.”
The results of rigorous training led to solid results.
In between the lopsided wins over Richlands and New Bern were ties against Ashley (3-0-1) and Wake Forest (3-0-3), while Jacksonville faced big losses. They have a win over Carolina 3A/4A conference foe J.H. Rose and a non-conference win over Wakefield.
What's even more impressive is that this result came at a time when the Cardinals weren't at full strength as several key players were sidelined with injuries.
“This is a good group,” team captain and goaltender Regan Donnelly said. “We know we can't win with just one player. It's about working together and pushing each other.”
Various players have contributed so far.
Senior Briley Nelson has emerged as a key scorer, sophomores Eva Stevens and Sienna Corless, and junior Kaylee Hennessy continue to perform well, while last year's leading scorer, sophomore Rider. – Perry is awaiting his return from injury.
Sophomore Kady Nelson will join Wessels, Helmstetter and Martin on the back line, with junior Olivia Doyle expected to return from injury. Junior Emma Erickson was also reliable in goal.
“It's great for them to be able to do this regardless of who's on the field,” Pelch said. “We don't have the same starting lineup yet, but we're lucky to have so much talent and depth.”
Some of Jacksonville's players will become top players on other teams. But with this team, individual accolades seem to be set aside in favor of the team's crowning achievement.
“I feel like we respect each other,” Morrow said. “We all understand that we might be one of the top players on our teams outside of high school, but here we all know we need to all work together. We leverage each other's strengths.”
Morrow, another team captain, added that several players have been playing together for several years, which helps them be on the same page. Morrow said the Cardinals seem to trust each other on the field, and that support is growing because the Cardinals are “transparent” with each other.
“I feel like we're being a lot more honest with each other this year than we've ever been before,” she said.
That responsibility goes a long way.
“As coaches, we're very honest with them and if they're doing something we don't like, we tell them,” Pelch said. “And if we're doing something as coaches, they'll come up to us and say, 'Hey coach, that practice didn't go well, let's stop.'
Honestly, the Cardinals are looking to win the state title this spring after beating Jacksonville in the last three postseasons and losing to eventual champion Alamance in the East in last year's East Finals. I'm not hiding that fact.
But the Cardinals know the effort it takes to get there.
“I feel like if you're a high school team and your goal isn't state, you're lying. That's what every team wants,” Morrow said. “But at the same time, we want to grow with each game.”
Pelch agreed about the path it takes to win the finals.
“That's our goal, but it's something we're doing little by little to get there,” she said. “If we're the same as we are today and the next game, we'll never get to where we want to go.”
Chris Miller can be reached via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter, @jdnsports).
