Looking Back:
Will they be remembered?
Lady Cards & Cousy
I wonder what they will say about these Lady Cards twenty years from now. I am talking about the 2023 CHS girls’ soccer team. I hope their efforts this year will still be valued and be a known part of the program’s history.
You see, they captured five records: The Lady Cards got the most wins in program history with 16. This broke their own record of 14 from last year. They broke the highest winning percentage with 61%. They also got the highest goal differential in the program’s history at +49. GD is the difference between the goals the Cardinals scored and the goals they gave up. This shattered the old record of +25. These 2023 girls also broke the record for the number of shutouts on the year. They held other teams to zero goals 14 times. The previous record was 11.
Let me list the outstanding varsity defenders. First, our very good goalkeeper was Ava Potter (as a junior, she will be back next year). The 2023 backline defenders were Hannah Campbell, Anna Hilty, Jazmyn Shockley, Paige McNabb, Bridget Newman and Makenna Beasley.
If you look at just the seniors, they broke a record for the most career wins (wins totaled over their four years). They collected a whopping 55 wins. (Proration was used to account for their Covid year, where their season was canceled.) These outstanding seniors were Allie Cardwell, Hannah Campbell, Anna Hilty, Jazmyn Shockley, and Bridget Newman. So you see, this 2023 squad, twenty years from now, should still be seen as a significant team in the big picture of the program’s history. By the way, they won the CIT and they also got 2nd in the C2D5, winning two games and coming close to winning the whole thing.
Let me mention the Lady Cards strikers and mid-field varsity players that racked up 74 goals: Kinzlie Hager, Mia Bagley, Isabella Griffey, Allie Cardwell, Hadley Delozier, Skyte Wilson, Raylan Richman, Kylie Williamson, Sabrina Meloy, and Leah Kenney. Carly Fosnow was the backup goalie.
Who coached this record-breaking team? It was Mr. Zach Adams. Coach Adams is a CHS grad that broke a few records of his own and is now helping younger Cards do the same. The soccer program started in 2000. I have a full history of this program (and others) if you want to see them. Just email me at t_komer@hotmail.com.
But wait, there’s more... Will the old pro players in other sports be valued years from now, or will they be mainly forgotten? A few old-time players have stayed relevant, like Babe Ruth, Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Jesse Owens, Pele, etc, but what about your favorite old player? I picked Bob Cousy to look at. He was Magic Johnson before Magic Johnson.
Cousy came into the NBA in 1950 and soon changed the game. It helped that he was drafted by the Boston Celtics, (but the Celtics were not good until he got there). He was what I call the first ‘modern’ guard. He could do it all but he was known for his ball handling. Some coaches thought his style was not good for basketball (all that fancy passing) but the fast-paced style was obviously a positive as the Celtics started winning and didn’t stop for many years. To be fair, Cousy got serious help from Bill Russel and ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton the first black man to get an NBA contract.
My question is; if you asked a younger NBA fan about some of the greatest point guards in the history of the game, would Cousy get mentioned? Well, you can look up what the experts say. Micah Adam from ESPN ranked Cousy at #10 all-time. Magic is first (predictable); others in order are Oscar Robinson, John Stockton, Steph Curry, Isiah Thomas, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Walt Frazier.
Twenty years from now, will Cousy still be in the conversation. Mr. Cousy retired in 1963. His emotional retirement is still known as the ‘Boston Tear Party’. He was inducted into the HOF in 1971 and is presently hanging in there at the age of 94. I will try to find out if the younger fans still know his name.
I hope the memory of the 2023 Lady Cards soccer team stays in the conversation. Go Cards.
Until next time.
