By Adam Knoll
Sports correspondent
It was an interesting season for the Whitewater High School girls soccer team. What began as a trek to a possible conference title ended with a good season, albeit in fourth place and a tough, first-round match-up in the WIAA regionals.
The team started off solid boasting a 9-2 record mid-way through the season. Unfortunately, the two losses came against Big Foot and McFarland, two squads that would ultimately finish at the top of the conference.
The Whippets, following the fast start, went on a 0-3-1 streak that hurt them as far as playoff positioning. Another one goal loss to Big Foot and a close, 1-0 loss to Evansville was the difference in seeding. Whitewater finished two points behind Evansville for third, and three points behind Big Foot for second. With a game against McFarland next on the schedule, it wasn’t difficult to conceive an 0-4 streak gobbling the team up. Instead, the girls gutted their way to a 0-0 tie. They would win the last three games of the season by a total score of 19-1 before falling to Monroe 1-0 in the playoffs.
Rock Valley Conference was a group of have’s and have not’s this season. A victory earns three points toward the total team score and a tie earns one point. Five teams had more than 28 points this season with McFarland leading the group with 42. In the bottom half of the conference, no team had more than 12. With the lack of a ‘middle class,’ the top teams were able to put large point totals up, making the few games against the top tier all the more important.
Against the top four teams in the conference, the Whippets were 3-4-1 with 10 goals scored (five in a game against fifth place East Troy.) A few more victories would have produced an easier draw in the playoffs – something the team is well aware of.
That is not to say it was a bad year for the girls and looking at the overall picture, it was successful on many levels. In all of its other games, Whitewater dominated with a 9-1 record while scoring 46 goals. There were eight games this year in which the Whippets won by three goals or more – a stat to be proud of.
Leading that charge was Alyson Quass, who, despite drawing double – and triple teams at times – was able to net 15 goals and help with eight assists. Quass became the first Whippet player to break 50 goals in a high school career. For her successful season, she earned 1st Team All-Conference honors.
Joining her on the 1st team was Holly Hough who placed 17 goals in the back of the net and now has 29 goals in her career. If she continues this pace, Hough will join Quass in the 50-goal club. Quass, a junior, and Hough, a sophomore, compliment each other on the field and will get another shot at a conference title next season.
Coach Dan McCrea said he is proud of both players, and knows that having such a talented front line opens up a lot of things offensively.
“Both Aly and Holly work well together and teams have to respect each player,” McCrea said.
Earning second team All-Conference nods were WHS defender Abigail Ramirez. Ramirez, along with Stephanie Brown and Erika Levine held together a strong backline that gave up only 12 goals all season, the lowest total in the history of the program.
For their efforts, Brown and Levine earned Honorable Mention on the All-Conference list.
“Abby reads the field of play extremely well and has great anticipation of the first, second and third options of ball movement,” McCrea said of the back line that gets less attention than the scorers but are just as important.
“Stephanie typically draws an opponent’s most offensive threat and does an excellent job defending. Stephanie plays a very physical game and is not easily intimidated. Erika is the team’s senior captain, a respected leader and dependable player,” McCrea said.
Both Brown and Levine have now graduated from WHS meaning the Whippets will have a few key spots to fill as the team transitions into next season.
