Playoff ready?
Talented squad eyes post-season berth
By GEORGIA PURDY Newsboy Correspondent

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy THE JASPER'S GIRLS Varsity Soccer Team are from left to right, bottom row: Allison Collins, Lindsey Bowers, Charlotte O'Brien, Kelsey Walker, Jessica Alvis, Morgan Marx, Lauren Morgan, Danielle Lockwood. Middle row, left to right, Caroline Kipp, Natalie Dufner, Haley Shipman, Brooke Wagnon, Rebecca Vickers, Amanda Miesch, Hannah Vickers. Back row, left to right, Tabitha Wagnon Marcie Ratcliff.

The Jasper Lady Bulldog varsity soccer team returns 10 starters with considerable experience. Add to that seven freshmen with experience in the Twister Soccer Club and it means that the team should be very competitive in the district.

"This large number of freshmen is the second wave of players that have been affiliated with the Twister Soccer Club led by Robbie Lovett," Coach Ron Vickers said. "Last year's freshman class contained three players that played at some point on the Twisters. With the addition of these seven to the varsity squad, we now have the most competitive soccer experience since I've been coaching."

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy JASPER GOALIE MARCIE RATCLIFF stops an attempt during last week's contest.

This second year of experienced youngsters entering high school should at least give Jasper an even edge with teams in their mostly Class 4A district. The team finished fourth last season behind Henderson, Nacogdoches and Palestine. This year's district line-up remains the same plus the addition of Class 3A Diboll, who will field its first team.

"In past years, there were years where the only experience that varsity players had when they arrived at high school was recreational soccer through the Pineywoods Youth Soccer League (PYSL)," Vickers said. "Most of the freshman players have seven or more years of Division II or higher playing experience. As a result, this years team will be stronger top to bottom."

Following is a look at the line-up with comments from Coach Vickers.

Jessica Alvis, senior, (#5): Alvis is a four-year starter who has played defense, midfield and forward. She is an all-around athlete who was named to the All- Tournament team at the Palestine tournament this past weekend.

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy JASPER'S JESSICA ALVIS dribbles the ball up the field during a scrimmage with Silsbee in preparation for the start of the season.

Amanda Miesch, senior, (#6): Miesch is a four-year starter at defense and has been the sweeper for the past three years. She was named as a co-defensive player of the year last year in the district. She brings speed and skill to her spot.

Brooke Wagnon , senior, (#8): Wagnon is also in her fourth year on the team and has played midfield wing since she was a freshman. Wagnon has continued to improve each year and will be an important part of the team this year.

Marci Ratcliff, junior, (#21): Ratcliff became the starting goalie last year and has continued her strong showing already this year. After two scrimmages and four tournament games, she has given up only two scores. In contrast, the Lady Bulldogs have scored 21 goals.

Morgan Marx, junior, (#12): Marx is a secondyear starter at defensive wing. This year she will be ask to also play midfield to supplement the loss of the two seniors who played midfield last year.

Lindsey Bowers , junior, (#16): Bowers is another second-year starter who will continue to play defensive wing, where she has found a home.

Kelsey Walker, junior, (#14): Walker has played mostly wing and forward in past years but will also be used on defense this year. Walker's speed and determination make her an asset wherever she is on the field.

Natalie Dufner, sophomore, (#1): Dufner is a scoring leader from last year's team where she had 12 goals. She will be counted on to continue her threat.

Caroline Kipp, sophomore, (#3): Kipp is the other scoring leader from last year. She had nine goals and will also be counted on to continue as a scoring threat. Both Dufner and Kipp had an excellent freshman season.

Rebecca Vickers, sophomore, (#2): Vickers is the third returning sophomore. She played defense last year in both the wing positions and as the "stopper." Her experience in district games will make her an important part of the team.

There are seven freshmen on the varsity team.

Danielle Lockwood (#18), Lauren Morgan (#17) and Hannah Vickers (#4) all play defense and should strengthen the overall defense of the team giving the Lady Bulldogs the ability to adjust to stronger teams with more defensive players without having to pull offensive players from the front line. They also bring speed to the defensive end of the field.

Charlotte O'Brien (#7) and Tabitha Wagnon (#10) are primarily midfield players who bring playmaking and passing abilities to the field. Both have excellent vision of the field and the ability to get the ball where it needs to be in order to score.

Haley Shipman (#13) is a wing/forward who brings the ability to cross the ball to scorers and shoot when she is playing forward.

Allison Collins is a wing/forward as well and she also comes with years of competitive experience. She will complement Kipp on the left side of the field.

"In our district, we will need to beat all the teams we beat last year: Livingston, Lufkin- Hudson, and Center," Vickers said. "We played Diboll in tournament play and will need to beat them both home and away. To make the play-offs, we will need to play better this year against the four teams that beat us last year: Palestine, Jacksonville, Nacogdoches, and Henderson."

Jasper is 2-0 after two scrimmages . They beat LCM 4-0 and Silsbee, 7-0.

This past weekend, they competed in the Palestine tournament where they placed third overall.

"On Thursday we began official games against Mabank and Diboll," Vickers said. "We lost to Mabank 2-1. That afternoon, we beat Diboll 5-0. On Friday afternoon, needing either a shutout or a 4-1 win to be the second place team from our pool, we defeated Athens 2-0 in our best-played game of the tournament. On Saturday, we won the consolation game (3rd place) 2-0 over Silsbee. Of the 10 3A teams present, we finished third with only two scores against us while we scored 10 goals. No other team had fewer goals scored against them."