Even being down some major contributors the Elmore County girls soccer team remains undefeated after taking down Tallasse, 4-0.
The Panthers were without leading scorer Cadie Crews heading into Friday’s clash with the Tigers. However, a pair of goals from Daniela Martin alongside goals from Emmalyn Morse and KeKe Walker you would not have noticed they were not at full strength.
“I’m extremely proud of all of my girls,” ECHS coach Leslie Hines said. “We've had injuries, several starters that are actually out of this game. Everyone stepped up and did their job. Everyone contributed to this win. I'm extremely proud of my starters, who stayed in the entire time and did a miraculous job of getting the points on the board and then keeping them to a shutout.”
Elmore County is used to shutouts at this point, in the last four games the Panthers have outscored their opponents, 18-0. Even with the offense playing as well as it has, the back row has shined just as bright even with new girls filling in the holes left by prominent senior pieces from last year’s team.
“We were able to keep our defensive line behind them and in the right places,” Hines said. “We have several new girls on the defensive line. We've lost some amazing seniors from last year's team, so we're still working out the logistics of who's playing where, and that has been the goal going into area play.”
Heading into area play, Hines wants her team to continue to show improvements while also limiting their mistakes, but is still proud of what she’s seen from her team early on.
“I'm hoping to be at full capacity and full strength,” Hines said. “Just to play our game and wanting to win as a part of that and then just keeping our skills in check and cutting down those mistakes I feel like we can take advantage of the other team's mistakes.”
On the boys side, Elmore County was unable to take down the Tallassee and fell 4-3. Despite the loss, a lot of promise was shown throughout the game.
One of the main being goalkeeper Preston Baker, who might have had the best game of his high school career. He filled up the state sheet with the sheer amount of saves he had on the day, limiting a dominating Tallassee team to minimal success.
“I feel like if (Preston) plays like that the rest of the season, we're gonna have a good chance,” ECHS coach Jeff Bracknell said. “Tallassee is a good team, they've got a lot more experience than we've got, as far as games this year, and by far the best game he's played all year.”
Heading into area play, Bracknell wants to make sure his team continues to play like they did against Tallassee. He was pleased with his team's effort, but wants to make sure they take advantage of their shot selection.
“(I want) continuation of the effort they gave tonight, plus a little bit more ball movement, moving the ball a bit more,” Bracknell said. “Of course, maybe keeping possession a little bit more rather than wasting shots.”
