When the Westminster Lady Wildcats' season began, they had four freshman in the starting lineup. It marked the first time any freshman started for the Lady Wildcats since 1999. In addition, the Lady Wildcats have suffered a slew of injuries to begin the season, forcing an additional three role players into the lineup.
Though youth, inexperience and injuries aren't the recipe for success, there's plenty of good news for the Lady Wildcats. They're the four-time defending state champions. They have four returning starters from last year's title run. And they're the state's No. 1-ranked team.
They're off to an 8-1 start including 4-0 in Region 2 A-AAAAA, with their loss coming against St. Anne's Belfield (Va.), an undefeated team ranked No. 10 in its state according to the LaxPower.com computer rankings. St. Anne's finished last season ranked No. 3. The Lady Wildcats rebounded from the loss, however, to beat Roswell - ranked No. 10 in AAAAAA - their very next game.
Lady Wildcats coach Jay Watts said the St. Anne's match served as a learning lesson his young team can build off moving forward.
"We took away how a good team can capitalize on your mistakes," said Watts, now in his 15th season at Westminster. "It seemed that every mistake we made turned into a St. Anne's goal. We learned the importance of minimizing turnovers."
Learning on fly is how Watts sees the season going, at least until his team is fully healthy, which he hopes will be in the next week or two. The Lady Wildcats will have plenty of tests along the way, as Watts prefers to stack the schedule with quality opponents so they'll be prepared when the time comes to make a run at a fifth consecutive state title.
"Our schedule this year is very tough," Watts said. "We'll play a lot of out-of-state teams and will be challenged by a lot of in-state teams."
After a region contest at home against Sprayberry on Wednesday, they'll host Charlotte Catholic on Saturday. Charlotte Catholic is LaxPower.com No. 1 team in North Carolina and edged Westminster 12-8 last season. Later in April, the Lady Wildcats will play Radnor (Pa.), ranked No. 7 in its state. Westminster's in-state opponents include No. 2-ranked Kell and No. 3-ranked Pope.
In the meantime, the Lady Wildcats have won two in a row. They won their most recent game 12-3 against defending state champions J.L. Mann (S.C.). J.L. Mann's three goals was its lowest scoring output since 2012, thanks to the Lady Wildcats' defensive efforts led by sophomore goalie Katie McGahan's 13 saves.
Five different players have scored multiple goals though the first nine games and sophomore Cabell Zakas set a single-game school record with seven assists in a win over Harpeth Hall (Tenn.).
Despite the inexperience, Watts said his team is adapting to play at a high level.
"We have determined, smart kids who work hard. They're a close-knit group and by the end of the year I think they'll be ready because they fight like the dickens to make sure their last game is their best. Having good, smart players makes my job a lot easier."
Send Adam Krohn an email at AdamKrohnAJC@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter.
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