Ridgeland has shown steady improvement in the last couple of seasons and head coach Darren Crutcher is hoping that the lessons learned last season will pay dividends this time around.
"We had some tough games at the end of last year against teams like Cartersville and Allatoona, and we purposely played all of our youngest kids a lot in those games because we knew they would learn from it," he explained. "From the looks of it in these last three weeks since we started practice, it appears that they have learned something from it. It looks like they are finally starting to understand that girls' soccer in north Georgia isn't just "boom-ball" anymore. They are starting to see what they are supposed to do, and that's good."
Ridgeland will have a youthful squad once more, but they will also have veteran leadership from a quartet of seniors in keeper Laura Boyle, midfielders Brenda Velzaquez and Amanda Martinez, and midfielder/defender Mariah Kilgore.
"They are showing the girls all the things they need to do and being leaders for us," Crutcher said. "They are really looking forward to getting this season started."
He also has high hopes for a solid group of underclassmen, several of whom will likely begin the year as starters.
"It's hard to tell how good they are because we haven't played yet," he added. "But they seem to be picking things up really quickly and giving it their all."
Among the other names to watch this year include junior defenders Hannah Courtney at stopper and Megan Bauer at sweeper, freshman defender Courtney Cross, sophomore wing Sydney Brock and freshman forward Caitlin Keith.
Crutcher feels that defense will be his team's strong suit.
"You can tell just by watching them at practice that defense is going to be the strength of this team," he said. "We've moved some people around to make sure of that."
As usual, the Region 7-AAA will be tough. Allatoona, Cartersville, and Heritage were all ranked in the Top 10 of the state last season, and Dalton and Southeast Whitfield are making a push toward that top tier status.
Crutcher added that having some early success will go a long way toward getting his team on track for a solid season.
"The way our schedule is set up, if we play can well early on and gain some confidence, then I like what what we can do," he explained. "But if we have a couple of slip-ups, it could be rough, especially because we may not have our basketball players out here for the first few games. Hopefully we can hold it down until they get here to help and all these pieces of the puzzle will start to fit together."
Thursday's scrimmage and Monday's home opener will both begin at 5 p.m. The Lady Panthers will host longtime county rival LaFayette in the first region match of the season next Thursday, also at 5 p.m.
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