The Caldwell County Lady Tigers are hoping to build on last year’s 12-6-3 season in 2023.
“We had a good record. But we didn’t win the district and we didn’t advance as far in the region as we wanted to, so we’ve got a lot of goals to go for this season,” noted Lady Tiger head coach Rhett Miller.
“And we want to repeat as All A regional champion. But Crittenden County has a good team coming back, Lyon County has a good team coming back, and UHA has a much stronger team coming back.
“In the district, Madisonville is going to be a tough task. Hopkins Central is going to be a tough task this season. Just having a good record this season is going to be a tough task.”
With much of last year’s offensive punch returning, the Lady Tigers would appear poised to take on many of those goals. However, Miller said some questions still exist about this year’s squad.
“This year’s team is interesting in terms of our own manpower,” he noted. “We haven’t had three kids who have been at Governor’s Scholars. We’ve had a couple hurt. I just don’t know what I’ve got right now. This is just going to be a season of ‘I’m not sure.”’
Three returnees accounted for over half of Caldwell’s offense a year ago.
Senior forward Mariah Merritt had 13 goals and seven assists. Sophomore forward Aliya Towns tallied 12 goals and two assists. Senior midfielder Keegan Miller scored 11 goals and dished out 16 assists last season.
“We were very much improved offensively last season and a large majority of our scorers came back. So we should be able to put it in the net,” said Miller. “But it may take us half the season to figure out where to play everyone.
“I’m excited. We have tons of athletes. But we just have to figure out where everyone needs to be.
“I do think we have a lot of depth,” he added. “We’ve got 23 eligible varsity players.”
Miller said the team’s style of play will depend on who is on the field.
“We will change the way we play when we sub. It’s not a case of being better or being worse, but it will be different because of who is out there. I’m hopeful that the different style will throw the other team for a loop. Because it’s tough to adjust to a different style of play.”
Junior Abbey Gill takes over in the net after the graduation of Rachel McClung.
“We lost a quality keeper,” said Miller. “But we’ve got two quality keepers this year with Abbey Gill and Lainey Beshear.”
Beshear, a sophomore, is out for soccer for the first time.
Caldwell will play a 4-3-3 scheme.
“That’s what we’ve played the last three years or so,” said Miller. “But sometimes it morphs into a 1-3-3-3.”
Seniors Addie Cagle, Marissa Smith and junior Harper Ritchey help anchor the defense.
“Addie Cagle is a beast of a player in the middle of the field at defensive midfielder,” said Miller.
Junior Brooklyn Hillyard will play in the middle of the field while junior Olivia Baker starts out wide.
“Lexie Sullivan, a junior, is definitely a starter, I just don’t know where yet,” said Miller.
“(Junior) Cali Traylor has started the last couple of seasons but she’s still getting over an injury. But we could put her about anywhere.”
A solid freshman class could also help this season.
“Our freshmen have a lot of speed,” said Miller. “And speed is good. But you can’t just rely on speed at the varsity level. So we’ve got to work with them.
“Right now I don’t know if any of our freshmen will start. They could, I just don’t know. I would suspect, though, that at least one of them will have to start, I’m just not sure which one.”
Freshman Addie Middleton scored Caldwell’s only goal in a 1-1 draw with Owensboro in the first preseason scrimmage. Caldwell was blanked 3-0 at Apollo in its final preseason outing.
Freshman Jayda Miller could make a push for playing time at fullback.
“One thing we try to do is play every team in the region,” said Miller. “If I’m going to vote for all-region, I want to see every team and player in the region. We end up playing a pretty tough schedule.
“We think we should be able to compete with everyone we play. But again, it’s just an ‘I’m not sure’ year until we get all our players out there. But that’s kinda exciting too.”
