The Wilmington High School girls soccer team, from left to right, front row, Maddie Harris, Maddie Rayson, Lilly Jarrells, Alexa Benitez, Emma Adams, McKinley Maia; back row, Bella Earley, Autumn Byrd, Ansley Seeger, Cecilia Hackney, Elliot Control, Mia Ganz, Corinne Thery, Lilly Hudson, Brealyn Jackson, Meiley Black, Olivia Bose, and Kailey Pfister.
Submitted Photo
The Blanchester High School girls soccer team, from left to right, Shelby Jones, Addy Lewis, Laylla Sears, Kennedy Renick, Kenzie Blankenbeckler, Karlee Tipton, Hailee Harris, Jaida Jones, Reece Ledford; back row, Molly Barnes, Samantha Zerkle, Kendall Koch, Miranda Keith, Ali Trovillo, Carlee Campbell, Ava Lanham, Tessa Potts, Evelyn Kohler, head coach Kyle Hamilton. Team members Audrey Stinson, Rylee Griffith, Alayna Davenport and Morgyn Coyle were not present for the photo.
Submitted Photo
The Clinton-Massie girls soccer team, from left to right, front row, Emalyn Arnold, Gracie Wallen; second row, Olivia Carpenter, Sophia Purvis, Jacelyn Lawson, Myla Winkle, Tayllor Vert, Lauren McCreary; third row, Audrey McKay, Alyssa Shockley, Emma Jones, Kenzley Gale, Kennedy Walbe; fourth row, Taylor Collett, Rosie Hall, Addison Elkins, Ellasen Groh, Brylin Turner, McKenzie Chiaravalle; back row, Isabella Robinette, Brianna Bullock, Molly Grant, Makenna Bennington, Isabella Ashley, Kailey Wax, Haley Zeller. Team members Sydney Doyle and Julia Reardon were not present for the photo.
Submitted Photo
Batavia (10-0) was the clear top team in the American Division last year while Bethel-Tate (9-1) held off Clermont Northeastern (8-1-1) in the National Division.
Clinton-Massie went 3-5-2 in the American and finished in a three-way tie for third.
Wilmington and Blanchester were winless in league play last season.
BLANCHESTER
The Blanchester girls soccer team finished 1-15 last season but have a new coach this year in Kyle Hamilton, who has previously coached at BHS, Mason and Kings high schools. He does not have an assistant coach.
The Wildcats have 11 returning letterwinners, nine of them starters, led by Alayna Davenport and Hailee Harris.
Laylla Sears had six goals to lead BHS in scoring last season as a freshman.
Hamilton said there is a solid group of incoming freshmen who have youth soccer experience.
According to the SBAAC website, BHS graduates gone from last year’s team include Macey Waldron, Chloe Paulson, Gracyn Phillips, Aubrey Panetta and Kaylee Coyle.
Hamilton said the returning players and newcomers have shown a dedication throughout the summer to improve.
“I like their coachability and willingness to improve,” he said. “We have a lot of young skillful players and older players who are ready to compete.”
With such a young team, Hamilton knows experience is needed to compete in the SBAAC and that’s something he hopes to build throughout the season.
But if health is good, Hamilton said the team can battle the top teams in the National Division if “each player continues to buy-in to our new culture and philosophy.”
CLINTON-MASSIE
The Clinton-Massie squad finished 5-10-2 last season, third in the SBAAC American Division under Tom Henderson in his first season as head coach.
Jordan Snarr will be the junior varsity head coach while Kate Barton will be a program assistant.
Danica Bullock, Ava Dondero, Danica Henderson, Macy Kreider and Hope Roberts graduated from Massie in May.
Dondero had three shutouts in goal. Roberts led the team with 10 goals, according to the SBAAC website. Roberts and Leah Binau were first team All-SBAAC last year.
But there are 10 returning letterwinners in all for the Falcons this season. Only three of them started.
Gracie Wallen, Emalyn Arnold, Jacelyn Lawson and Alyssa Shockley are the top returning players with Sophia Purvis, Tayllor Vert, Kennedy Walbe, Addison Elkins, Ellasen Groh, Rosie Hall, Bella Ashley and Makenna Bennington top newcomers to the varsity squad.
Henderson said Wallen and Arnold “will step into the leadership roles as the only two returning seniors.”
Overall, the Falcons have an “extremely young roster of players. We graduated 12 players from last year,” Henderson said. “I like that we have been able to draw our participation number up to where we were last year. Losing such a large class could have left us in a situation where a JV team would have been difficult to field. So we appreciate that we were able to get a good mix of freshman coming in, but also some upperclassmen coming back out for soccer. I think the players are enthusiastic to keep the program growing and improving.”
The challenge, Henderson said, will be “getting the younger players to mature and build their experience while competing at the varsity level. The quicker that we are able to get the talent that we have and the needed experience to mesh together, then we can build the success. We were able to get a few of the younger players limited varsity experience last season, so we are hoping that will show this season. Those girls will now need to help to get the next class of players up to speed.”
WILMINGTON
In his third year as the Wilmington High School girls soccer coach, Pat Black will need to find a replacement for top goal scorer Taliah Billingsley.
In addition to Billingsley, 2024 WHS graduates include Bailee Drake, Skyla Edwards, Regan Harris, Danni Riley, Hannah Scott, Alantis Wise and Keiana Murdock.
Billingsley led WHS with 10 goals and made first-team all-league. Murdock was the top goalkeeper and Scott earned second team all-league.
The Hurricane finished with a win and a tie last season. Black will be assisted by Josh Harris in 2024.
There are eight returning letterwinners, six of which were starters in 2023. Black noted a large and talented freshman class enters the program.
Among the returnees, Black said sophomore Alexa Benitez, senior Emma Adams, junior Meiley Black, senior McKinley Maia and senior Kailey Pfister are at the top of the WHS roster.
Benitez was given honorable mention All-SBAAC last season.
With the returning players leading the way, Black said team chemistry is one key component of this year’s squads. The coach said his team must improve on its aggressiveness and ball skills but could contend for the top half of the SBAAC if it plays up to its abilities.
