Wildcats Soccer Prepares For Cookeville

Livingston Academy Soccer Coach Heather Marshall said the first week of competition showed promising development for the Wildcats.

Marshall said one of the area she wants to see improvement is communication on the field. She said she is relying on her three senior captains Ella Copeland, Selah Howard and Taryn Childers.

“We’re an older team this year,” Marshall said. “The past two year, we’ve been younger so we didn’t necessarily have the experience of the tough games. But, I got a pretty good senior and junior class right now that have experienced close games, we’ve had a lot of comeback wins. So, I think that experience for us on the field and in those tight games are going to help us when we got in those situations again.”

The Wildcats dropped the season opener, a 3-0 loss to Mount Juliet. They came back with a 1-0 shutout of Valor College Prep. Marshall said Childers, Copeland, and Howard play smart.

“All three have a high soccer IQ,” Marshall said. “They’re kind of like mini coaches out on the field which makes my job ten times easier.”

Along with her three captains, Marshall said three freshmen need to be contributors in the starting lineup. Freshman Chloe Dial has only played one season of organized soccer and in her first year of high school competition, she will man goal. Being a ninth grader with minimal soccer experience starting as goalkeeper can be a lot for a young player, so Marshall said she and the team have got to be extra encouraging to Dial.

“We have told her that we will be gracious with her,” Marshall said. “We know she’s learning every game and she’s improved with every pre-season and season game we’ve had so far. The sky is the limit for her. She’s got an incredible work ethic and she wants to win and wants those shut-outs.”

Livingston Academy travels to Cookeville Tuesday at 6pm.