After the 2017 soccer season ended, the GHS athletic department, headed by A.D. Dustin Smith, and GHS soccer coach Andrew Post agreed that change was needed. The decision was made to hire a new soccer coach for the GHS boys, allowing Post to concentrate fully on the girls’ program.
The Lady Bulldogs finished last season with a 7-14 overall mark, and poor offensive performance was often the culprit in their double-digit losses. But Post feels that his 2018 squad is on the way to correcting that problem, while also benefitting from another year of experience.
“We didn’t lose a whole lot of key players,” said the coach, “and that’s a big reason [for the improvement]. We returned eight starters from last year’s team, and we have a couple of players that have come in this year and are helping us out.”
Increased scoring is certainly a by-product of more seasoned players and that was clearly evident in the team’s performance just before adjourning for spring break.
In their final two matches before the break, the Lady Bulldogs scored a total of 13 goals spread out over two matches against Poteau (OK) and Huntsville. The back-to-back wins boosted Greenwood’s season mark to 4-3-1 overall.
Against conference foe Huntsville on Friday, March 16th, the Lady Bulldogs found the net seven times, all in the first half, in a 7-0 win over the Lady Eagles at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
It didn’t take the GHS ladies very long to find the net once the match started. They scored their first goal barely a minute into the contest, guided into the left corner of the net by junior Sarah White. Almost five minutes later, Greenwood senior Chenyck Moore made it 2-0 on a breakaway goal.
Then about 10 minutes into the match, Greenwood added three additional goals in a span of just 3½ minutes. Sophomore Bella Mora sprinted about 40 yards on a breakaway for the team’s third score.
White then added her second goal of the match, and GHS junior Harriet Koch found the right corner of the net for a 5-0 Greenwood advantage.
The Lady Bulldogs got their final goals of the first half and the match from sophomores Camryn Presley and Ella Austin. Presley scored with just over three minutes left, and Austin added a breakaway goal less than a minute before halftime.
“This makes two wins in a row for the girls and gives them a little momentum going into our conference opener after spring break,” said Coach Post after the match. “We’re just scoring more goals, and I think that’s obviously leading to more wins.
“I [also] think [Huntsville is] missing a few players, but I still think the girls did a good job of taking advantage of the space behind the defenders, moving the ball around, and putting the ball in the net. We had a lot of shots on goal, so I was very pleased with that,” he added.
Senior goalkeeper Carley Zirbel and freshman Emory Brewer combined on the shutout in goal, but Huntsville had very few shot opportunities as Greenwood controlled the action on the Huntsville end of the field, especially in the first half.
Before the Huntsville match, the Greenwood girls also hosted and defeated Poteau by a lopsided margin of 6-0 on March 12th. Perhaps setting the stage for the Huntsville contest, Greenwood scored all six of its goals in the first half against the Lady Pirates.
On March 9th and 10th Greenwood hosted the girls’ division of the River Valley Cup tournament, and the Lady Bulldogs finished 1-2. They won on Friday over Van Buren, 3-1, but lost both matches in shutouts on Saturday to Class 7A power Bentonville (7-0) and Class 6A soccer giant Russellville (2-0).
The Lady Bulldogs began 6A/5A-West conference play this past Tuesday, March 27th, with a game at Clarksville. Results of the match were not available at press time.
The GHS girls will also play host to Siloam Springs on Friday starting at 5 p.m. and will host the Lady Goblins of Harrison the following Friday at Smith-Robinson Stadium. All are conference matches.