The 2024-2025 Galion varsity girls soccer team.
Courtesy | Photorama
After winning just two games in 2022, the Galion girls soccer team boosted its win total to five games last season and hopes more improvement is on the horizon in 2024.
Led by head coach Cole Plumb, who is heading into his sixth season atop the program, the Tigers will need to replace its core of senior leaders from last year if they are to increase their win total. Gone are Autymn Bennett, Mia Felder, Rilynn Keinath, and Whitney Kimble, all of whom were four-year letter winners, but Plumb isn’t without some returning talent throughout the roster.
Senior goalie Ella Schaffner and senior defender Claudia Volz give Plumb a pair of three-year contributors to rely on both on the field and as leaders. Jalie Kildow, a sophomore center back and honorable mention All-District selection a year ago, figures to be among the most impactful returnees this season. Plumb said he believes junior forward Bianca White, a 2023 second-team All-District performer, has “a couple of goals in her” as well.
Galion will also benefit from the return of Bella Ice, who got off to a fast start last year as a freshman before suffering a season-ending knee injury. An influx of promising freshmen, all of whom will be counted on to play big minutes, will also supplement the returning contributors.
“It’s going to be a big loss losing those four seniors who were there with us through the good times and the bad times,” Plumb said. “We just got in seven or eight freshmen this season who have all been playing together for a lot of years. I’ve watched them through middle school. There may be some bumps in the road in the beginning, but throughout the season they’re going to get more and more experience, and I think they’ll gel well with the starters we have from last year.”
Plumb said of Ice’s return, “I think she’s very hungry this year considering she only played four games last year and was one of our better players before having season-ending surgery. She’s looked good throughout the summer, and I think she’s ready to put up some big numbers for us. … It’s been a long road, but she’s ready to be out there and be a leader for us.”
“Our goal is to improve every year, so getting over .500 and having more wins than losses will be a goal for us,” Plumb said. “A couple more wins the (Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference) is a goal, as is trying to win the first playoff game in the program’s history.”
In order to achieve those goals, Plumb feels having the girls play together and building cohesion and continuity will go a long way in leading to favorable results as they get stronger with each outing. A couple of scrimmages loom for the Tigers that will give Plumb a window into how that chemistry is developing, but he noted intrasquad scrimmages have shown “a lot of progress.”
He added, “I think if everybody attacks as a team and defends as a team, that’s huge. No matter if you play forward or midfielder, if we don’t have the ball, everybody is on defense. And whether you’re a goalie or an outside back, when we do have the ball, everybody is on offense. So just moving up and down the field as a team will be huge for us.”
Before a game has been played, Plumb is encouraged by what he’s seen from a team-building perspective for a team that appears to be united and playing free.
“They’re just having fun together,” he said. “They’re having so much fun in practices and doing a lot of team bonding. I think the better acquainted you are off the pitch, the better you’re going to be on the pitch.”
Plumb went on to say, “If everybody buys into what the coaches are trying to do, and we just play together as a team and build each other up, learn from each other and our mistakes to keep going every game and every practice, the season will be successful.”
