On paper, things appear to be setting up nicely for the Williamsburg Lady Wildcats in 2019.

The team returns most, if not all of its starters from 2018, a squad that finished the season 13-3-1 overall and 8-1-1 in league play, good for a shared conference title with Georgetown.

Importantly, the Lady Wildcats have also moved back down to Division III, having spent last season at the Division II level.

The higher division made the postseason push difficult for Williamsburg, head coach Brian Hart finds no shame in a second-round loss.

“I think we had a pretty good season,” Hart said. “Everybody clicked well, they played well. Going into the postseason, unfortunately, when you’re a little bit of a higher seed, in my opinion, you don’t want to take a low match and a chance of injury.”

Williamsburg opened with a win over Bethel-Tate before facing Indian Hill. Both of those matchups were difficult for different reasons.

“Anytime you play a league opponent, it’s always a battle,” Hart said. “After that, we went into Indian Hill. We played them pretty well, we didn’t lose worse than anybody else, which shows something about us, I think.”

This year’s team features a ton of returning talent, starting with Emily Hart, the defending Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference National Division Player of the Year.

She and a handful of teammates earned all-conference nods last season. Kirstyn Thomas joined Hart, Emma Beesten and Belle Middendorf on the first-team squad.

Middendorf graduated after last season, but second-team performers Chloe Durham, Camille McManus and Lily Williford are back, as is Kiana Dauwe, who earned an honorable mention.

“We have a lot of returning players that will have good years,” Hart said. “There are so many girls that played club over the spring that normally don’t, and it made a big difference for them. That really helped.”

One of the team’s newest additions is a freshman. Kaitlyn Gregory has already made an impact on the team with her play during summer tournaments and preseason scrimmages.

“She’s a high-level club player that we’re really hopeful for,” Hart said. “We’ve had a couple scrimmages, and what she’s done in those scrimmages really compliments our forward play and midfield play. It’s exciting that a freshman can come in and do that.”

Gregory and the entire Lady Wildcat roster are set up for a big year, according to Hart.

“I see good things out of these girls,” Hart said. “We work to build a family, be a strong unit and respect each other, because that translates to the play.”

Building that family aspect is key for Hart, and has been for some time.

“The number one focus for us is to become a family,” Hart said. “When these girls really get to respect each other and play on that same level and they’ve earned each other’s respect, that’s really important to me. It translates to the field.”

The first official chance the Lady Wildcats will have to see that translation is scheduled for Tuesday, August 20 against Blanchester. After that road game, the team travels down to Bethel-Tate for another league contest on August 22. That game will be a rematch of the first tournament game of 2018 for both teams, a game that Hart said should not have happened.

“We should have never been in Division II,” Hart said. “That was a Final Forms mistake. They had five or six girls listed as out of district, and those girls had been in the district their whole high school career. Those numbers were input incorrectly.”

Hart doesn’t mind playing bigger schools, especially ones in the SBAAC, to prove what the Lady Wildcats can do.

“I like to beat the bigger schools,” Hart said. “I like when the smaller schools on our side compete and beat the bigger schools.”

By Garth Shanklin

Sports Editor