- May 1, 2024
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Seabreeze has scored 59 goals and allowed just six.
BY ANDREW O'BRIEN | SPORTS EDITOR
With just one loss through its first 12 games, not much seems to be going wrong for the Seabreeze girls soccer team.
But there’s still plenty of room for improvement for the Lady Sandcrabs (9-1-2), said coach Frank O’Donnell.
Players fired shot after shot on goal during a portion of Monday’s practice. After all, finishing hasn’t been the highlight of the season for O’Donnell’s side.
Seabreeze has scored 59 goals in 12 games — an average of almost five goals per game. But O’Donnell and his players say it could be even better.
In the team’s only loss, a 3-2 game against district opponent Matanzas, O’Donnell said his team had three golden opportunities to score early in the first half and take a 3-0 lead. Instead, one shot went wide, an attacker missed the ball on another shot, and a third chance hit the post. Instead of leading, the Lady Sandcrabs found themselves in a 1-0 hole.
“We definitely have potential to do well,” he said during Monday’s training. “The only thing that’s holding us back is our finishing. We get an incredible amount of scoring opportunities, but our efficiency is terrible. ... If that was much better, we’d be hard to beat.”
Even with a lackluster finishing efficiency, the Lady Sandcrabs are still tough to beat. And as they improve, they are only going to get tougher.
O’Donnell said he can work on finishing for hours in training sessions, but it’s game situations that will get the players into a finishing groove.
“It’s process,” he said. “When you get the ball, you need to know where your pressure is. ... You need to be confident.”
Forward Kaitlyn Marlett, who has 12 goals and nine assists this season, said the team continues to get better as the season progresses. Although she knows finishing is still a work in progress, she said it’s getting there.
“We are working together,” she said. “We are passing quicker and our finishing is getting better.”
On the other end of the pitch, the Lady Sandcrabs’ defense, anchored by keeper Hailey Beach, has been stellar. Seabreeze has allowed just six goals in 12 games. And Beach said only a few of those six goals were “good goals.”
“We have a strong defense in front of me,” Beach said. “They’ve done so well. And the offense comes back and helps really well. I have a really strong team in front of me, and when I have to make a play, I make a play.”
Heather Levoy, a senior defender who missed her sophomore and junior years because of a serious knee injury, didn’t even know her team had only allowed just six goals.
“Our defense is focused around everyone talking,” Levoy said. “I think the only way to have a strong offense is to have a strong defense.”
Seabreeze (6-1 District 6-3A) will play three more games in a tournament over the weekend before a pivotal district match at Matanzas on Dec. 16. That game will likely determine the No. 1 seed in the district tournament, and Seabreeze is looking to avenge its loss from back in November.
SCORING LEADERS
Kayla Merkel: 9 goals, 13 assists
Annie Gelnaw: 15 goals, 13 assists
Kaitlyn Marlett: 12 goals, 9 assists
Note: Statistics as of Dec. 9.
