|
Soccer can be a brutal sport, sometimes even more brutal than football. Injuries and ejections are common.
And, if you’ve ever had to listen to fans react to official’s calls, a suggestion may be to put your hands over your ears. So, for a team to win a team sportsmanship award could be considered quite an honor.
The Northwest Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association honored the Clay girls’ with the district’s Division I Team Sportsmanship Award. The Eagles finished the season 8-9-1 and fifth in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference at 3-3-1, but their record doesn’t really mean a lot with such an award.
Clay was nominated by Findlay coach David Larocco, even though the Eagles defeated the Trojans 3-2 in TRAC play.
“He just thought that apparently when we played against them, we carried ourselves pretty well and with class,” Clay coach Scott Wamer said. “That’s the first that I know that we have ever won it,”
Also nominated were Springfield, Notre Dame Academy, and Anthony Wayne. Wamer was in the coaches’ room when Lorocco nominated his team, and the Clay coach said there were no parameters laid down about how to choose the winner.
“You have delegates that are running these rooms (voting) from the coaches association and they didn’t really sit there and say this award is for that, this, this, and that,” Wamer said. “I think when it says ‘Team Sportsmanship,’ I think that kind of says it all.
“We’ve been trying to build a respectful program for as long as I’ve been here. I think that was kind of a, ‘You do a nice job. Your girls have class,’ type of thing and they rewarded us for that. That’s basically all it was. I think it was a positive thing for our program that other Division I schools have noticed what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to do things the right way and they gave us the award.”
Bryan won the D-II girls sportsmanship award and Archbold won in D-III. On the boys’ side, Springfield was chosen in D-I, Kenton in D-II, and Pandora-Gilboa in D-III.
On top of that, Clay sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Heintschel has been named the Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press and TRAC Goalkeeper of the Year. Heintschel is also first team all-district.
Heintschel had 111 saves this year and the Eagles had shutouts over Whitmer, Fremont Ross, and Lima Senior.
“Technically, she is phenomenal. She is so athletic,” Wamer said. “I saw her grow from her freshman year to her sophomore year, and she gets phenomenal training from the program that she is with, and she has worked with goalkeeping coaches and she’s gone to some camps at the University of Toledo and the University of Dayton. She just does everything she has to do in order to be on top of her game, you know. She plays at a high level.”
Heintschel’s contributions have not gone unrewarded by her teammates, either.
“My girls have voted her as a captain the past two years,” Wamer said. “She is the first girl I’ve had that was ever voted by a team captain her freshman year. That tells you a little about her leadership.”
Heintschel is joined on the All-Press first team by a classmate, midfielder Honnah Susor, who led the team with 11 goals and five assists and is second team all-district. Also on the All-Press first team is junior defenseman Kasey O’Shea, who had a goal and an assist despite playing a large role in helping Heintschel protect the net.
All-Press second team choices are juniors Lindsay Schiavone (two goals, three assists) and Kendyl Christian, who had six goals and six assists as a utility player.
The fact that all five are underclassmen says a lot about Clay’s future, because the Eagles’ junior varsity team tied with Findlay at 4-0-1 to win the TRAC championship.
A Key win for the varsity this season included a 3-2 victory on the road over Amherst Steele in the next to last regular season game. That game was part of a three-game win streak to close the regular season, and then Clay defeated Sylvania Southview in a sectional final 3-2, avenging a 3-2 regular season loss to the Cougars.
SG-Heintschel 1-3
Clay sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Heintschel. (Press file photo by Scott Grau)
 |
Sports 
Subscribe to this comment's feed