New Richmond’s Hannah Wentzel defends Williamsburg’s Autumn Gregory in the contest between the two teams on Wednesday, September 2, 2020.
New Richmond’s Lexi Hotchkiss battles Williamsburg’s Allie Doss for control of the ball in the Lady Lions’ 5-0 win on Wednesday, September 2, 2020.
New Richmond High School’s girls soccer team put on a senior night show last week.
The Lady Lions honored the program’s senior class just before exploding for five goals in a 5-0 shutout of Williamsburg, evening both teams’ records at 2-2 on the season.
“It always takes the New Richmond Lady Lions a couple of games to hit our stride,” head coach Rebecca Keys said. “I think we’re finding it, and I’m super excited to see what next week brings. We have a week off this week, so we get to fine-tune a lot of things. Next week, we hit the ground running and we play six games in 10 days.”
New Richmond’s first goal of the game came in the 30th minute of the first half. Audrey Nicoloff crossed the ball into the box for Kayla Patterson, who gave her team a 1-0 lead.
Zara Graff added to that total four minutes later, striking a ball from outside the box into the back of the net.
In the second half, Abbey Heiden drilled a shot into the back of the net from just outside the box, starting the scoring in the 14th minute.
Nicoloff scored in the 27th minute, putting a low shot on the ground past the keeper. New Richmond’s final goal came two minutes later, with Haley Slye floating a shot over a leaping goalkeeper.
The five players that scored in the contest represented each grade level. Four different players picked up an assist in the contest for the team, which is built in such a way that allows players to succeed at different positions.
“They’re able to rely on each other and trust each other,” Keys said. “Being able to put different athletes in different positions than what they usually play in practice as well as in the game and seeing them succeed has been wonderful. Just because you play one position doesn’t mean you won’t be playing maybe two or three different positions.”
Keys continued, noting the bond off the field is just as strong.
“I think our varsity team is very tight on and off the field, and I think that’s been super helpful,” Keys said. “They’re only getting stronger, and I love watching them grow.”
Statistically, Patterson leads the Lady Lions with two goals. Four different players have an assist on the season.
Becca Smit has two shutouts in four games. She’s also made 54 saves in those contests, a number that’s a little high for Keys’ liking.
“That’s my background, goalkeeper, and that’s a little too many,” Keys said. “Becca’s killing it in goal. Her back line communicates very well, they work very hard and they play well together. I love to see that continue to be successful.”
With the team’s contest against Wilmington, originally scheduled to be played on Tuesday, September 8, being moved to later in the month, New Richmond has a week to prepare for a gauntlet of six games in 10 days.
“We’re going to test our endurance and we’re going to see what we have,” Keys said. “That’ll be a test for sure.”
New Richmond’s next contest is a home game against Western Brown on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.