Soccer season ends for Silver Knights
The Lady Knight soccer team of Tyler Consolidated played their last regular season game on Saturday when they welcomed the Lady Red Devils of Ravenswood to Brubacher Field. Looking for their fourth win of the season, the home team was disappointed with the 6-1 loss.
The goal came on a Meg Warner assist to Marley Snider.
“We’ve never beaten Ravenswood,” said Lady Knight head coach Cliff Warner. “They’re a good team with a good program. We played with them for awhile, but for some reason we started the game flat and then just couldn’t bounce back.”
“We held our own until they scored their second goal and then we just had some break downs.”
The Tyler Consolidated Ladies started and finished post-season play on Monday when they faced off with Weir at Wheeling Park.
Five seniors led the team this season: Jackie Clark, Emily Wildman, Madaline Schlabowski, (co-captatins) Katie Smith and Rheanna Foley.
“These five are going to be hard to replace,” said the coach. “Each and every one of them brought something different to the team, to the program. I’m certainly going to miss them and the team will miss their leadership. But they’ve been good role models for our underclassmen, so they’re leaving us something to build on.”
Clark is a four year letter winner on the team, playing mid-field and forward. “Jackie is our solution finder,” Warner said. “She’s a very good player, an excellent leader, and always comes up with a solution when we have a problem on the team.”
Madaline Schlabowski is a three year letter winner. “Maddie is like our ‘Secretary of State’,” said the coach. “She pulls the team together after a bad day, or a loss or whenever something goes wrong. She’s the one the girls turn to the majority of the time.”
Emily Wildman is a four year letter winner, playing several positions and roles on the team during her time, including goal keeper and defender. “Communication is Emily’s strong suit,” Warner said. “She’s our enforcer. Whenever she’s on the field, she’s barking out orders and making sure everybody knows where they’re supposed to be and doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Rheanna Foley has been with the team for two years and the coach said he wishes she had joined the program earlier. “She works hard and has turned into a very good player. She makes things happen and is always ready to play.”
Katie Smith joined the team this season, another player the coach said he wishes they would have had years ago. “She’s played every position on the field except goalie, and played them very well. She’s not afraid of going for the ball or defending physically. She has improved all season long.”
“They’ve each been an asset to us,” the coach continued. “They’ve pulled us together, kept us going, and will be sorely missed.”
Fifteen underclassmen are expected to return to the Knight line-up next year, 15 and hopefully a nice group of freshmen which will insure the future of the program and keep Lady Knight soccer going strong.