PENDLETON — Last fall, Pendleton Heights girls soccer coach Mark Davy had his best Arabians season. The Arabians claimed a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference title.
This year, they are preparing for an even better year.
Up until the 2017 season, Davy’s teams had finished second or third in the HHC, and the team had been plagued by player injuries.
“This year, we’re healthy, and that helps lessen the blows from last year.”
With eight seniors to guide the team, the Arabians will rely on their experience and leadership. Their biggest boost will come from senior captains Taylor Fort, Helena Talbot and Megan Green, who are four-year starters.
With veterans Fort as an attacking mid-fielder and Talbot as a forward, Pendleton Heights can rely on previous experience, not only in its positions, but with its opponents as well.
In summer scrimmages, Davy said he was pleased to see the team dominate both games.
“Even with that, our true potential is a little unknown,” he said.
Davy said he’s confident this potential will feed right into an Arabians aim of continuing to improve every day of the season.
Juniors Anna Childers and Lexi Hill, who are talented as center mids, will work the center of the field. Davy also expects a great season on defense from senior Leonie Wilson and sophomore Macy Browning.
While nearly half of the Arabians squad are seniors, the remaining team are a balanced mix of juniors and sophomores who will guide the future of the team. Those underclassmen are part of the depth that will give the Arabians the solid boost needed on the field.
Despite being the co-champion of the HHC, the Arabians will not have an easy path to making another run to the title. The HHC is a powerful conference with an annual battle waging between the Arabians, Mt. Vernon, New Palestine and Greenfield-Central.
In addition to a tough conference schedule, the Arabians play host to their own invitational. They fell 6-3 Saturday, Aug. 25, to Chesterton. Other games were rained out.
By the end of the regular season, Davy hopes and believes the Arabians will be ready to not only repeat their sectional performance but also improve upon it. They made the semifinal round before falling to host Hamilton Southeastern.
“Each day and each game, we have to improve,” Davy said. “We have the pieces to do it.”
Once the pieces are put into the right places, the move is to overcome the hurdles of facing their toughest competition.
“This is going to be a fun year,” Davy said.
In a pre-season scrimmage against Bishop Chatard, the Arabians fought to a 2-2 tie with the Trojans. Talbot and Fort scored for Pendleton Heights. Unable to use their full lineup, other Arabians players filled the slots. Davy was pleased with the effort by those who stepped up.
The Arabians opened their 17-game season Aug. 15 with a 10-2 win at home over the Pike Red Devils. They defeated University High School 3-0 on Aug. 18 in Carmel and tied Lawrence North 0-0 on Aug. 20 in Indianapolis.
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Senior Taylor Fort is beginning her final season as a varsity starter for the Arabians. The center mid-fielder has played the game since she was 5 or 6 years old.
A lot has changed for the team captain since the early days of her career. Soccer has become more of a mainstream sport with fan attendance on the rise. And for Fort, last season’s successful run brought out even more to watch the Arabians play.
She credits some of the increased attendance to Arabian football coach Jed Richman. In off-season weight training, Fort said Richman was always supportive during workouts. He also encourages his football players to come to games to bolster the girls.
“As we got a better record,” Fort said, “people noticed that and began to come out to the games.”
She said at first, large crowds were nerve-racking, especially at the Mt. Vernon game, where the Hoosier Heritage Conference title was on the line.
“But after a while, it was fun seeing all the people.”
As one of the captains, Fort has several responsibilities to her teammates. Not only does she help run the practices, she helps make sure her teammates are ready on and off the field.
“I make sure they’re pumped,” she said.
Once her final season is in the books, Fort is considering playing soccer for Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana.
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PH varsity girls soccer schedule
Wednesday, Aug. 15
Vs. Pike 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 18
@ University 11:30 a.m.
Monday, Aug. 20
@ Lawrence North 7 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 23
Vs. Richmond 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 25
PH girls soccer varsity invite-home 10 a.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 29
Vs. Greenfield-Central 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 4
Vs. Shelbyville 7 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 6
@ Park Tudor 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 10
@ Delta 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 11
@ Yorktown 7 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 13
Vs. New Castle 7 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 17
PH girls soccer (senior night) vs. Westfield-Washington 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 19
@ New Palestine 7 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 24
@ Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 26
Vs. Hamilton Heights 7 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 1
@ sectional (Noblesville) TBA
Wednesday, Oct. 3
@ sectional (Noblesville) TBA
Saturday, Oct. 6
@ sectional-open date (Noblesville) TBA
Saturday, Oct. 13
@ regional-open date TBA
Saturday, Oct. 20
@ semistate-open date TBA
Saturday, Oct. 27
@ state finals-open date TBA
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PH varsity girls soccer roster
0 Kylea Lloyd, freshman
1 Megan Green, senior
2 Riley Schrink, sophomore
3 Megan Mills, junior
5 Maddie Likens, junior
6 Macy Browning, sophomore
7 Sarah Dix, sophomore
8 Anna Childers, junior
9 Helena Talbot, senior
10 Taylor Fort, senior
11 Claire Fendel, senior
12 Lexi Hill, junior
14 Jayden Brown, senior
18 Leonie Wilson, senior
35 McKae Hutchinson, senior
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