The Pacers bring back just one all-league player, but believe they can compete.
From the outside looking in, you might think that 2022 would be a down year for the Lakeridge girls soccer team.
After all, the Pacers graduated five all-leaguers (and 12 players overall) from a team that finished fifth in the Three Rivers League and 5-7-4 overall.
Lakeridge’s players and coaches, however, have other ideas.
“We always want to be competing for the title and this year will be no different,” said Lakeridge coach Nick Lewis. “Our success will be determined by how quickly we will be able to come together with so many new faces.”
The 2022 Pacers will be led by senior defender and team captain Molly Bachman (the team’s lone returning all-leaguer — she was a second-team pick in 2021), senior goalkeeper Cami McCormack, senior defender and team captain Julia Mindt, junior midfielder/defender Jordan Bowermaster, junior midfielder Sophia Dahlstrom and sophomore midfielder/forward Mallory Ensing.
“Our two senior center backs (Bachman and Mindt) have been starters for the past few years and … lead by example. Not just their hard work and gritty attitudes, but their insistence on lifting up the people around them,” Lewis said. “Both have been leaders at the varsity level, even as underclassmen … and they seem eager and willing to continue both the culture and traditions that we have in our program.”
Other players back from last year’s varsity roster are senior midfielder/forward Reese Fitkin, senior defender Kendall Coyne and junior forward Elisa Damori. Also ready for varsity action are senior forward/defender Scarlet Lemuz, senior midfielder Julia Weidlich, junior forward Opal Anderson-Landis, junior midfielder Mia Schroeder, junior midfielder Ella Murchison, junior midfielder Barrett Koerv, sophomore defender Sydney Han, sophomore midfielder Alexis Gonzalez, sophomore defender/midfielder Sydney Chavez, freshman defender Claire Egusa and freshman midfielder Alaina Gates.
“We lost so many starters from last year and have a lot of girls competing for (starting) spots this year,” Lewis said. “We have a good mix of returners, as well as some underclassmen who are eager to make an impact. While we graduated some big-time players from last fall, I’m looking forward to seeing who will step up and fill those roles for us.”
As to the coming Three Rivers League race — the Pacers open TRL play when they host West Linn at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6 — Lewis said that crosstown rival Lake Oswego (the 2021 TRL champion) should be strong again.
“I think it’s up in the air,” he said. “Lake Oswego always tends to have a great roster of players, but it’s a highly competitive league so anything can happen.”
You can see the Lake Oswego preview here.
You can see the West Linn preview here.
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