Soccer: Windsor girls storm past WRV in season-opener
Published: 09-02-2024 5:17 PM |
WINDSOR — Moments before kickoff, White River Valley girls soccer coach Kim Prestridge held up a large easel paper pad outlined with a list of goals for her team to accomplish Friday.
Prestridge got the idea from her assistant coach, Omar Calhum-Flowers, a couple of years ago. It’s a deliberate pregame effort to underscore how each player can impact the game.
For the Wildcats, featuring a roster composed almost entirely of juniors and freshmen who were just seconds away from stepping onto the pitch for their first game together, it’s an important lesson in positive reinforcement.
“We always want to have fun, right?” Prestridge said postgame. “Who wants to come out and be yelled at and have a terrible time? So go have fun, it’s your first game. Enjoy being out there.”
Standing opposite White River Valley in the season opener: the reigning Division-III state runner-up, Windsor.
The Yellowjackets return the core group from a squad that was 80 minutes away from capturing the program’s first state championship last season. Expectations are high.
Much like Prestridge, Windsor co-coaches Jen Rupp and Wendy Moody sought to establish a clear vision for their team in the offseason. In conversations between the coaches and squad, one constant emerged: make another run to the state title game.
“At the first practice, they did personal and team goals, and everybody’s like, ‘We want to get back there,’” Rupp said.
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Senior Audrey Rupp, who tallied 50 goals and 13 assists last season, broke the scoreless deadlock in the 16th minute with a curling left-footed effort from outside the box. Windsor had maintained the attacking edge for the opening half hour, but it was White River Valley which found an equalizer, courtesy of junior Cassie Armstrong.
It took only three minutes for the Yellowjackets to recapture the lead, with Rupp streaking down the right sideline before whipping a ball across the center of the box to feet of junior Kenzie Wescott for a goal. It was a lead they would never relinquish.
Windsor wants to send six players forward at all times, so getting into the wide areas and crossing balls into the center of the box, in hopes that someone will get a touch, is central to the team’s attacking success, Audrey Rupp said.
A four-goal second-half battering from Windsor saw that philosophy realized and quelled any notion of a White River Valley comeback. The scoreline was indicative of the Yellowjackets’ ability to carry momentum from last season, Jen Rupp said.
“We did lose an attacker (to graduation), and so showing that we can still score the ball with many other people in the mix was important,” Moody said. “It’s important for the freshmen that we have on the team to see that this is what Windsor soccer is about.”
A wave of positivity echoed from the sidelines of the White River Valley bench upon the final whistle, despite the 6-1 defeat. For Prestridge, that postgame reaction is emblematic of her team’s culture and environment.
As the season gets underway, Prestridge said the next steps for the Wildcats are fitness, winning the first ball, and honing their “little simple passes.” Most of all, though, it’s about enjoying the 15 or so games the group has together.
“We ask them, ‘What do you really want out of this season?’” Prestridge said. “Okay, we can win every game. If you don’t get to do that, what do you really want out of this season? They want to be with their friends. They want to have fun. They want to get better at soccer. Great, we’ll do that.”
Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.