Girls Soccer Insider

McKinney North’s Anthony Rejoins Anderson, Teammates; Notes From Around Town

McKinney North’s dynamic senior duo is officially back together.

For the last two weeks, senior Courtney Anderson has had to lead the North girls soccer team’s offense alone as senior midfielder Jackie Anthony has been out with a hip and back injury. But this week Anthony is slowly coming back.

“I’ve been working back in, little by little,” said Anthony, who practiced on Monday for the first time in two weeks. “I’m dying [not being able to play]. I’m close. It definitely feels good. It’s my hip [and] black, depends on the day.”

With Anthony getting closer to 100 percent from her injury this week, she and Anderson will get back to working together and creating scoring opportunities.

“Without her on the field it’s harder for me to do what I do best,” Anderson said. “It’s really hard to fill Jackie’s shoes because no one can really do what she does out there. She’s an amazing player. Jackie [Anthony] is a scoring machine. I set up the plays. I set up what Jackie finishes. That’s how we work best.”

Anthony actually played the entire 80 minutes in Tuesday’s home game against Lovejoy, said North coach Lance Lovell. Though she is very ready to make a strong comeback, it will take some time for Anthony to be completely herself again and pick up where she left off.

“The past few games with me not being on the field, it’s like there is a missing person on the field,” Anthony said. “I really want to get back out there because we have to fill that hole.”

Anthony didn’t warm up well before the McKinney Boyd game on Jan. 29 and remembered getting hurt after taking a shot in pre-game. She only stayed in for about the first 15 minutes of the Boyd game.

Lovell has had to improvise for the last two weeks with his leading scorer out. He moved Anderson from forward to attacking midfield, Anthony’s spot, to help move the ball for North (8-7-1, 3-4-1 in District 15-4A).

“I said all year that Jackie [Anthony] and Courtney [Anderson] complement one another very well,” Lovell said. “When one of them is gone like Jackie’s been gone, it’s very difficult to create by yourself. I think [Courtney’s] done a good job with that.”

With Anthony back at midfield, North’s offense should continue to see a difference. Anthony expects to play on Friday against Princeton at home and will likely continue to practice early next week as North enjoys a bye.

“When Jackie gets back, that’s another player that can distribute and move the ball,” Lovell said. “She’s very important to the overall team ball movement concept. Without her in there, there’s been a noticeable difference.”

Player of the Week: Erika Higginbotham

North senior Erika Higginbotham takes the honor after being a constant defensive threat this season.

The solid defender loves to direct traffic from the back and is a vocal leader of North’s flat-four defense.

MHS Focuses On Midfield

McKinney High’s X-factor at the beginning of the season is now a new focus for the Lionettes.

Compared to last year, McKinney’s midfield now has all the right pieces and weapons. Its midfield was perhaps the biggest reason MHS started the season 3-0-1 and won the Frisco tournament.

But now MHS is working to find that level of midfield play again.

“Since we started against Hebron to the game against North, our play has decreased considerably,” MHS coach Alex Pantarotto said. “That’s something we are emphasizing in practice. We seem to have lost some kind of edge in terms of ball movement in the midfield.”

Pantarotto said the peak of its midfield came in McKinney’s season opener against Hebron, which it won 3-0, and the championship game of the Frisco tournament against Frisco, which it won 2-0.

“I have to go back to the Hebron game that the midfield played extremely well, and there were moments in the Frisco game that we played well,” Pantarotto said. “After that, I think slowly we were losing our edge.”

Against some easier district teams, MHS (11-0-1, 8-0-0) doesn’t see the holes it needs to move the ball to because the opponents tend to bunch up. The Lionettes have been working on spreading out their midfield to better serve the forwards and create better shots.

“I told my midfielders that we need to work in some sort of diamond and to put the ball wide and across,” Pantarotto said. “The key was to put the ball behind their defenders, so we could be successful. [Hilliary] Gupton did that three times [against North] and we scored three goals.”

Though the Lionettes are still getting over the stomach flu, MHS’ midfield made a positive step forward Tuesday night against Princeton as about all of its midfielders scored.

Senior Emily Zillmer and freshman Meg Stofer combined for four goals while junior Lindsay Cox, senior Sarah Stockard and freshman Abby Smith combined for three goals in the 7-0 road victory.

“I’d say [Lindsay] Cox has been so far the best midfielder that we have,” Pantarotto said. “Of course [Bethany] Johnston when she plays in the midfield, she helps us do some other stuff that we’re not able to do without her. And [Hilliary] Gupton, when she gets the ball, she feeds [Amanda] Frisbie well.”

The Lionettes hope to continue improving their midfield strategy as they march through District 15-4A undefeated. MHS will travel to play Greenville on Friday.

Shelpuk Coming On Strong

McKinney Boyd’s most unlikely scorer has lately found the net easily.

Since firing her first shot on goal ever more than a week ago, junior Hailey Shelpuk has scored a goal in her last two games for Boyd (10-2-0, 7-1-0).

Shelpuk fired in a ball that was deflected to her feet against Mesquite Poteet last Tuesday and posted another one against Greenville last Friday. Boyd, which has many offensive threats, found another favorite scorer.

Subvarsity Report

So far this season, Boyd’s JV Red team has scored 52 goals and only allowed three goals. Not too shabby for it being the middle of district play.

Goalkeeper Melissa Heap has recorded 11 shutouts while Alexis Littman and Lauren Penny lead Boyd with 13 and 11 goals scored, respectively. Cadie Annett and Kaycee Short each lead in assists with six.

The JV Red team finished the first half of district plays as it toasted Greenville 7-0 last Friday night in some rare, warm February weather. 

The Lady Broncos (11-0-3, 6-0-0) started off with a bang as Penny posted two goals and Short added another in the first eight minutes of play. Callie Annett, Taylor Hodgkinson, and Penny provided the assists, respectively.

Cadie Annett topped off the first half with a goal from an assist by Alyssa Clark. Ashley White scored her first goal of the season eight minutes into the second half followed by two goals by Heap.

Overall, the Lady Broncos fired off 30 shots in the game and held Greenville to just one shot. Boyd JV Red will host Rockwall Heath this Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Staff writer Angie Wallace covers girls soccer for McKinneyNews.net.