- November 27, 2024
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Pull quote: “The thing I’m most proud of is, when you look out there at them playing, you can’t tell who the freshman, who’s the sophomore is. They’re so connected, and they believe in one another. This is my best team.” Coach Kim Merkel
Seabreeze girls soccer coach Kim Merkel calls this season a surprise year, and rightly so. Having lost 18 seniors in the last two years, the Lady Sandcrabs (18-3-2, 11-0-1) have proceeded onto the field this season with 16 underclassmen on a 22-woman roster. And yet, they have not allowed their inexperience to deter them. Using her preseason bonding retreat, the Lady ‘Crabs have progressed in unity, and the two-year coach is pleased with her young team’s progress.
“The thing I’m most proud of is, when you look out there at them playing, you can’t tell who freshmen and sophomores are,” she said. “They’re so connected, and they believe in one another. I never thought they would come together this well, this quickly.”
Merkel spoke a great deal about the team’s confidence, saying her girls believe they can do it, go far in the regionals. Beginning the season with a board full of goals, Seabreeze recently crossed off its district championship objective and is moving toward its regional tournament ambitions.
“We have our eye on the state championship, but we’ve got little goals in between,” Merkel said. Now, it’s to at least get to the regional finals, but, we would love to get to the Final Four, to be realistic.”
“I feel very confident these girls can get to the Final Four as long as they continue to do what they actually can do very well, which is stay organized defensively, and not panic but stay composed,” she added. “And, we have to finish our chances. We always get a ton of chances, but we’ve got to put them away, because it will make that difference.”
Over the season, the Sandcrabs took 405 shots, but only 202 were on goal. Of those 202 makeable shots, they converted 103.
But, even in the midst of mistakes Merkel mentioned, she believes that they are the key to growing her bunch.
“We constantly encourage and remind them that they can mistakes,” she said. “I want them to make mistakes, because that lets me know they’re trying. Being afraid to make mistakes, you can’t get better, and God knows we’ve made plenty of them.”
One mistake they’ve yet to make is to lose in key games. The Lady ‘Crabs hope they’ll continue to be victorious in those moments, starting Thursday, when they play Vangard at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
