There is no doubt who will be the region’s leader in the 2024 girls soccer season.
Once again, Chippewa is the team to beat. A little further back is Smithville, and behind those two teams are the rest of the regional teams.
The Chipps continue to upgrade, something they’ve done basically since the Wayne County Athletic League was formed in 2004, and the Smithies bring back a lethal core that will be tough to beat. We take a look at Chippewa and Smithville, as well as two of the OCC’s best in recent years – West Holmes, who had a run for the ages last year, and Wooster.
For Chippewa, it always seems to be the same old thing, which isn’t such a bad thing when the “same old” wins. It’s something they’ve perfected over the last two-plus decades since the program was incorporated in 1996 and gained membership in girls soccer in 2004 when it was founded in the WCAL. Since those two dates, the Chipps have amassed a 71-23 record in the OHSAA playoffs since 2001, 17 league titles, 21 sectional titles, 12 district titles, five regional titles and have appeared in two state finals. The consistency is astounding on many levels, especially for a public school.
Preview of the girls soccer game: A team-by-team look at the Wayne/Holmes area
“It really starts with the dedication the girls have to the game in the next few grades,” Chippewa coach Ruth Coney said. “It’s about understanding the importance of team spirit, having fun at practice and games, and being friends on and off the field. All of that brings us closer together.”
“The desire to be part of it is also important because everyone has a special role in the team. Everyone is important, everyone is special and everyone brings something to the team. Everyone is equally important.”
The ability to get everyone to buy into a process and system and understand their roles is what makes this program tick. Strong leadership that teaches what it means to be a Lady Chipp, future Chipps watching and taking advice from their heroes who are current players, and an understanding that every player in the program is valuable and has a role to play is a great place to start.
The club is poised for another successful season and has the potential to be just as good as the 2015-2018 teams led by Nadya and Naya Boualany and Bailey Clark. How they tackle those dreams and lofty goals will say a lot about this team and the willingness to work together puts the “we” before the “me.”
“We need to work together as a team and stay focused,” Coney said. “We need to keep working hard, improve our possession and our performance in and around the box. We have some great players on defense. Overall, they’re such nice girls who are already meshing well together, which is exciting for the season, and I’m really happy with everyone.”
Smithville ended a three-year drought in the region last season and enters this year with a solid all-around team that has the potential to make life difficult for Chippewa. The last time the Smithies were in the region was in 2013, and since the inception of their program in 2008, they’ve gone 13-16 in the OHSAA playoffs. The key, however, is keeping it simple and focusing on the task at hand on the field to be successful.
“We just have to make sure everyone understands their role and plays to their potential,” Smithville coach Andy Keener said. “We can’t try to do too much and we have to have trust in each other.”
The return to the big stage will be a step-by-step process as Smithville fights to emerge from a competitive league. Led by the Swiss Army knife Claire Haas, the eye-catching goalie Jenna Necko, as well as Kaylie Holmes and Shelby Schenk, the Green-Whites have plenty of ingredients to have an unforgettable fall.
“The chemistry between the younger players and the older ones is starting to work,” Keener said. “There’s still a lot to improve. I hope that over the next week, when we play a few more practice games, it will become more fluid and we will be more organized.”
Who could forget that night at IMPACT Stadium in Marysville when West Holmes made its first ever Division II semifinal appearance? The celebrations from Knight Nation spoke volumes, even in defeat, about how special this team was and that along the way they became only the second team from the region to ever make the state championship in girls soccer. They also improved on their second-best record in the region of 33-22 in the OHSAA playoffs and their first regional appearance since 2013.
“This is a good place to start after years of losing in the district,” said West Holmes coach Bruce Murphy. “It’s great that these girls got to experience this and they now know what it takes to make a run like this. They’re still excited about the whole experience.”
“It helps us develop some kind of standard, some kind of expectation, kind of the minimum expectation. The girls want to win districts, that should be the expectation.”
This year, Murphy will be tasked with filling the big shoes left by Schuyler Snyder. Gone are players like Allie McMillen, Avery Arnold and many other seniors who were the heart and soul of this team. Now, standout sophomore Charli Murphy and seniors like Averee Troyer and others will look to bring the Knights back down to earth as they begin this season.
“It’s going pretty well, there’s obviously a learning curve between players and coach and vice versa,” Bruce Murphy said. “I’m getting to know them and they’re getting to know me. This is such an intelligent team, I just throw a few things at them and we build on it, it’s really a learning process.”
And how is the team managing this fall after suffering so many losses a year ago?
“There are different types of leaders and we have a mix of them on this team. Some are more vocal, others lead by example by making everything they do serve a purpose and that’s what I teach. We had the same type of leadership last year that we have this year, just with a few different players.”
For Wooster, the question is how they can replace the leadership and experience of goalie Grace Kostohryz. The goalie, who now plays for Northern Kentucky University, has made countless saves and at times kept her team in the game by holding the defense together and when breakdowns occurred. That’s something that still needs to be figured out as the season begins.
“I don’t think we can completely replace Kostohryz,” Generals coach Charles Cerniglia said. “Everyone else has to step in and help out and together we can fill the void she left behind.”
The good news for the Blue and Gold is the return of senior standout Gabi Signorino. With her outstanding footwork, ability to navigate traffic, make difficult shots and mentor her teammates, she will be the face of this year’s attack. It’s a field of talent, with Abi Strand-Fox, Nadia Leary and Emma Behler being just a few of the names expected to enhance the Generals’ scoring abilities.
“We lost a tremendous goalie and forward, and both were great leaders,” Cerniglia said. “We won a share of the OCC title a year ago, and a lot of that was based on our heart and our fighting spirit; we need to make sure we can do that this year. If we show the same fighting spirit, competitiveness and determination that we showed last year, we should have a pretty good season.”
“It’s extremely important, we need people to be committed. If there’s one message for this team and key for us this year, it’s that we need people to be committed and make the difference. We need players to become the players they can become so we can be the team we can be.”
