Could soccer in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference gain a reputation as strong as the Northern Lakes League has?

Clay coach Scott Wamer believes it already approaches the NLL.

His young Eagles are 4-8-1, but Wamer notes that Clay’s strength of schedule, according to a statistical rating analysis on the Oho Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association website, is stronger in comparison to some of the NLL schools.

Clay sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Heintschel. (Press photo by Scott Grau)

“It’s a great soccer league. You can see that with some of the results against some of the NLL schools,” Wamer said.

For instance, Clay’s opponents, including non-league teams, have an accumulated record of 81-47-11 — well over .500. Maumee, an NLL school that Clay played last week, has opponents so far that are 51-57-8 accumulated.

Wamer is a veteran coach and recognized as such. He was the 16th girls coach in Ohio to win his 100th game when Clay defeated Whitmer, 4-0, on September 14. In his 11th season, he now sports a 101-62-21 record if you add the Eagle’s 3-2 victory over Sylvania Southview in late September.

It isn’t Whitmer that is pushing the TRAC over the top. Instead, it is opponents like St. Ursula Academy, Notre Dame Academy, and Findlay. SUA is ranked fifth statewide in Division II, but Clay has remained close in games with every opponent.

“I have three losses in the TRAC and they are all by one goal,” Wamer said.

The Eagles tied Notre Dame, 1-1, but lost to SUA, 2-1, and Findlay, 3-2. The Eagles also lost to Central Catholic, 2-1, despite holding the Irish to four shots on goal. The Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the TRAC and still has games with Fremont Ross (Oct. 6) and Lima Senior (Oct. 12, 5 p.m. at Sanderson Field) remaining.

Still, Clay has lost in non-league games to NLL teams Perrysburg, 8-2, Anthony Wayne, 4-0, and Maumee, 2-0. Clay did open the season with a 2-1 victory over Bowling Green.

Undefeated Perrysburg is ranked second in D-I and Maumee (12-1-1) is ranked 10th in D-II with only a 3-0 loss to Perrysburg blemishing its record.

Clay’s loss to Maumee was last Monday night at Clay’s Sanderson Field, despite 14 saves by Clay sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Heintschel. Heintschel was a second-team All-Northwest Ohio High School Scholastic Soccer League selection and all-district pick as a freshman. Hannah Susor, Clay’s sophomore striker/center midfielder, had three shots on goal in Monday’s game.

Other losses this season have been at the hands of Rocky River, 8-2, and Lima Shawnee, 1-0.

Abby Groll leads Clay in scoring with 13 points, including five goals and three assists. Susor has four goals and two assists, Kara Simon has four goals and one assist, and Kendyl Christian has two goals and three assists. Christian led Clay in scoring last year with 16 points (7 goals, 2 assists).

Also getting into the act with two goals and one assist each are Nyla Sanders and Hayley Schiavone. Morgan Connor, Haley Kubucki, and Kasey O’Shea each have a goal and an assist, Kayla Kovacs has three assists, Kirsten Rettig has one goal, and Katlyn Seimet has an assist.

Wamer doesn’t expect his team to struggle for long. Almost everyone returns next year.

“I only have two seniors and if they keep plugging away and if the ball bounces our way a little next year, maybe we’ll have a little more luck,” Wamer said. “Our record isn’t quite the indicator of how we played, but if you look at our strength of schedule, it is outstanding. The teams that we’ve played are winning.”

The Clay junior varsity team, as of last week, had earned at last a tie for the TRAC championship, giving Wamer more of a feeder into next year’s varsity. The JV is done in league play with a 4-0-1 record. Only a tie to Findlay blemishes Clay’s record.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing those girls develop and seeing how they can help us in the years to come,” Wamer said. “As long as I’ve been here, I’m pretty positive that we have never had a JV championship because we basically started a JV team right before I took over and they weren’t very good.

“The future looks great. We’ve got to keep our heads up and chalk this up to some inexperience and see if we can’t turn it around next year.”

Many of his players are younger sisters of players who were on other teams, including a state-ranked Clay team in 2006.

“We’ve got some families that have been familiar with this program and kind of know what to expect. They know what we are about and that definitely helps out a little bit,” Wamer said.

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