August 10, 2021
The 2020-21 ECCC women's soccer team had a historic season in the spring as they finished the year 11-3-2 overall and advanced to the MACCC/NJCAA Region XXIII semifinals. The shortened season was played in the spring due to COVID and the Lady Warriors climbed into the NJCAA national rankings for the first time in program history, eventually ranking as high as No. 13 overall. Now just a couple of months later, the Lady Warriors are ready to hit the pitch for the start of the 2021 season with a normal August starting date.
With a strong group of returning players, the Lady Warriors look to build on that success from earlier this year and continue to be a top contender in the always challenging MACCC. Sophomores on the team for 2021 include Olivia Clark of Decatur, Belle Miller of Lucedale, Nicole O'Neill of Dublin Ireland, Molly Moore of Meridian, Jaden Ham of Richton, Sasha Clare of Belfast, United Kingdom, Gabby Falla of Hattiesburg, Seline Decoteau of Pascagoula, and Loren Winters of Ocean Springs. Each of these players brings loads of talent back to the roster, but most importantly they bring experience.
"Our success in this league is going to start with our sophomores, the change in temperature from the spring to early fall and staying healthy is going to be a factor for sure, but we are going to need girls to step up and play as role players," said ECCC head coach Ryan Joiner. "We should have six or seven starters back...our All-American in Sasha Clare and attacking midfielder Nicole O'Neill returning are huge for us. Overall though, the experience that the team had going through the season so quickly last spring and the quick turnaround will make all of these returners tremendous leaders going forward."
Clare and O'Neill were ECCC's leading scorers in the spring with the pair scoring eight and four goals each, respectively. The Lady Warriors' keeper, Clark, is also back after picking up eight shutouts as a freshman. She also earned numerous MACCC Goalkeeper of the Week honors, as well as an NJCAA Goalkeeper of the Week nod.
The Lady Warriors had a solid offensive and defensive strategy in the spring and that success is the driving force behind this team's outlook, but with not as much depth due to a smaller roster size, the Lady Warriors will have to get creative.
"We will be sound moving the ball forward and should be able to score more goals as we have brought in some really good attacking players who all add some creativity and flair," said Joiner. "We will be very stout on the back end and that will be key for us this year, but we are definitely looking to score more goals this season."
The Lady Warriors found the back of the net in all but three matches last season, and only suffered losses in matches with one or fewer goals scored, all against NJCAA top-10 opponents. More goals throughout the season can alleviate these close losses and take the ECCC women's soccer program to the next level.
Joining a talented class of returning sophomores are a host of freshmen that look to make an immediate impact on the field and in leadership roles in the locker room and off the field. These freshmen include Jaden Parker from St. Martin, Morgan Massey from Decatur, Juliana Wells from Poplarville, Trinity Barden from Kent, United Kingdom, Lily Butcherfrom Wigan, United Kingdom, Lexi Green from Lucedale, Kara Wager from Lucedale, Victoria Moseley from Hurley, Jayna Ben from Philadelphia, and Madison Carroll from Florence.
This group of incoming players hopes to carry on the quickly-forming tradition of stellar success that is Lady Warrior soccer.
"Our goal from day one, is to win this conference, that's what our girls set from our first meeting," said Joiner. "We've set a high standard for this program, and we expect to compete on a national level."
The Lady Warriors kickoff the 2021 season on August 20 with a road trip to Jones College with game time starting at 6 p.m. For more information and to stay up-to-date on the Lady Warriors, visit www.ecccathletics.com.
