The goals for the Union Grove girls’ soccer team are simple.

The Lady Wolverines made it to the Class AAAA quarterfinals last season before losing a tough 2-1 match to Lambert. Head coach Cody Guined did not offer a complex plan for his team this season.

“We want to accomplish everything we did last season and then some,” Guined said. “We want to surpass the accomplishments we had last season.”

Guined said his team is a group of dedicated soccer players ready to make that goal real.

“We want to continue doing what we have been doing,” he said.

However, the Lady Wolverines (1-0) will have a difficult road with three fellow region members nestled in the Eurosportscoreboard.com Class AAAA Top-10.
No. 1 McIntosh, No. 3 Whitewater and No. 8 Starr’s Mill always pose a challenge for Union Grove.

All three teams made the Final Four last season.

“Our region is just brutal,” Guined said. “There are a lot of quality teams that have had a lot of playoff success. Our region offers some of the toughest competition in the state. Any time you have three teams in the Final Four from one region, that is some tough competition.”

Guined said he will turn to his trio of senior captains to get the Lady Wolverines in the best position to take on the trio of region powers.

He said Ashley Nagy, Danielle Fletcher and Michaela Gardner are the team-chosen leaders.

“I will look to these seniors for leadership,” Guined said. “They are my first group to come all the way through from freshman year. I tried to help them get better every year. They kept setting the bar for next year, and we will look for them to do that again.”

Guined said two sophomores and three freshmen should also contribute a lot to the team besides the other varsity players returning.

He said sophomores Jordan Jones and Ashlee Crouch and freshmen Brianna Davis, Maria Thomas and Katie Carr each have something to add to the team.

Guined said this team seems to work well together. He said this could be a “special” season for Union Grove. And he said the players’ drive to succeed should take them far.

“They want to surpass the level they got to last year,” Guined said. “But, they don’t just want to advance through the playoffs. They want to be better as a whole on the season.”