Orion-Sherrard girls soccer celebrates the sisterhood

The Orion-Sherrard girls soccer team gathered Wednesday, May 25, to celebrate their 16-9 record.

Their awards night was at Orion Middle School in the commons, since the OMS eighth grade promotion was the same night at Orion High School.

Coach Rick Cline said it was a fun and successful season, and the girls played some really nice soccer.

The 2022 team’s legacy will be its youth. He consistently started the youngest team ever, with five to seven freshmen on the field.

Also, the team jelled and developed a family bond to celebrate. Every day they celebrated what Cline called “the soccer sisterhood.”

The coach, who took over the girls program in 2006, said this season’s weather was the worst ever.

“Not history we want to make,” he said.

United played several games in 50 mile per hour winds.

The girls started the season 3-1, with a 1-0 win over Galesburg, an 8-1 thrashing of Monmouth-Roseville and — on a dry day — a 6-2 victory over East Peoria. During that stretch, they lost 6-2 to Alleman.

Orion-Sherrard lost a couple of games, but then whitewashed Princeton 2-0 and Sterling 5-0.

Dixon claimed a 1-1 win on penalty kicks. United then won eight wins in 10 games, which included five shutouts and a 2-1 overtime win over Princeton.

Near the end of the season, Orion-Sherrard lost three games, including another match on penalty kicks, but went into regionals with a 4-0 win over DePue-Hall and a 4-1 win over Galesburg.

United’s season ended with an 8-0 loss to Peoria Notre Dame in the regional semifinals at Geneseo.

The girls had an abnormally high number of injuries, Cline said. It was a chance for others to step up and make seamless transitions to starting positions. They proved resilient as they developed mental and physical toughness.

“I could not be prouder of their spirit and heart,” the coach said.

Their keeper, freshman Kendal Maynard, started the season with good fundamental skills, Cline said. She had nine shutouts among Orion-Sherrard’s 16 wins. Maynard has three more seasons to keep developing her skills.

United outscored opponents 66-49.

Commitment, dedication and hard work will lead to sustained skills, the coach said.

Orion players who received varsity letters were Amiliani Bradley, Violet Fiers, Kaitlyn Greenwood, Claire Weber, Ashley Schmoll, Miriam Clarke, Jennie Abbott and Zoe Larkins.

Hayley VanDuyne earned a junior varsity letter.

Season stats

Goals: Team 66, Miriam Clarke 30, Alyssa Layer 10, Jennie Abbott 8, Rokia Clauss 6, Mariah Meyers 3, Zoe Larkins 2, Amiliani Bradley 2, Rachael Fender 2, Ashley Schmoll 1, Kendal Maynard 1, Violet Fiers 1.

Assists: Team 45, Layer 11, Clauss 7, Meyers 6, Abbott 5, Schmoll 4, Fender 4, Fiers 2, Bradley 2, Larkins 1, Kaitlyn Greenwood 1, Claire Weber 1, Jenna Szymborski 1.

Shutouts: Team, Maynard, 9.