With an away 3-0 win against Knox Catholic earlier this month, the GPS varsity soccer team wrapped up its regular season with an undefeated record—the first time in school history. The win catapulted the team to another first—a #1 national ranking with MaxPreps.
Throughout the season, the Bruisers outscored their opponents 54-4, resulting in the highest goal average per game on record and the lowest goals against average since 2014, when the team gave up 11. (This year’s season saw fewer games than usual due to COVID-19.)
Senior Ashley Grant (#20) has led the team’s scoring efforts, with 18 goals and six assists, and sophomore Kennedy Ball (#33) was close behind with 14 goals and 13 assists. Team goalkeeper Kaedra Thorstenson, a senior, allowed only three goals all season.
Head Coach Patrick Winecoff says, “In a year of uncertainty, the girls have been very stable and consistent and have brought a work-like attitude to training and to the matches we’ve played. It’s been very reflective in our season thus far.”
The team graduates 10 seniors, including team manager Jane Eiselstein, and Coach Winecoff admits the season has been a bit of a surprise. “We’ve played a very difficult schedule, and we weren’t able to have a proper pre-season, so the fact that we’ve been able to win the games that have been on the schedule—with no ties at that—is remarkable to me. I definitely did not see this coming before the season started,” he says.
Next up, the Bruisers will compete in the TSSAA Division II AA State Tournament, hosting a quarterfinal match on Saturday against the winner of tomorrow’s Baylor vs. Pope John Paul II match. “Whoever the opponent is, we’re going to train hard and train to win that particular game,” Coach Winecoff says. “At this point, every match we play is the most important match of the season.”