WHITEHALL — Just as they did last year, Whitehall and Shelby played a low-scoring defensive battle Monday to open West Michigan Conference play, but the Vikings came out on the short end this time, falling 1-0.
Last season, the teams tied 1-1, and with each team missing one of their key scoring threats, the contest was even more defensively minded. The Vikings were without Kate Beda, who was out of the country on a service trip, and Shelby was missing Kylie Brown, also out of town.
"We definitely felt her loss, but I think the girls really stepped up," Whitehall coach Laicey Chamberlain said. "They're going to have to get used to it. This is (Beda's) senior year. I think it was a good test for them to see if we can pull together."
The results were solid, Chamberlain felt, especially on the defensive end. Ally Gardner, Gwen DeRose, Lily Heidelberg and Morgan Garcia largely limited the Tigers, and keeper Kaylyn Blaske was not forced into many high-stress situations. Defensive midfielder Avery Heacock was also a notable asset on that side of the field.
Even more encouraging for Chamberlain was the youth of some of the girls playing well on defense. DeRose and Heacock are freshmen and Heidelberg is a sophomore. In addition, though Gardner is a senior, Chamberlain said it's her first season playing on the back line.
"The strength that this team will continue to have, and their abilities, and the cohesiveness is something I'm really looking forward to watching build," Chamberlain said.
The one Shelby goal came in the game's 16th minute, when the Tigers' Annabelle Stark was able to chase down a nice pass and go one-on-one with Blaske for a score. It was the one blemish on an otherwise solid defensive game.
While Shelby's defense also held down Whitehall (1-1) - the Vikings' best scoring chance, a free kick from just outside the box in the second half, caromed off the crossbar - Chamberlain was impressed with the effort of her major offensive players.
"Izzy Causie and Reese Hesse and Clare Westerlund and Liz Fox played their guts out today," Chamberlain said. "Those four were really hammering our offense. As our offensive line, they were making plays and making things happen. All four of them I was moving around and putting in different spots, and they did it. They didn't complain."
Any time a team jumps right back into game action on the first school day after spring break, rust could be a factor, though Chamberlain wasn't too concerned with that. Shelby, after all, didn't play a game last week either, though it was not on spring break.
"They're usually a pretty competitive team," Chamberlain said. "We knew it was going to be a competitive game going into this. They just capitalized better than we did. They prevented us from putting some stuff together and they got their goal and held us to not getting any."
One challenge Chamberlain is facing - which she noted is a positive one - is figuring out how best to deploy her team now that she has more depth, thanks largely to a large contingent of seven freshmen who joined the Vikings this year. Last season, by necessity, everyone's roles were pretty much set quickly due to a lack of bodies, but with more players and more overall talent, the lineup is still somewhat fluid early in the season.
"I'm still trying to figure out where all these girls need to be and what their positions should be, because I'm trying them all over the field," Chamberlain said. "It's just me trying to figure out where my team needs to be to play their best game. That's on me. That's not on them. Especially in that second half, they came out and they played really strong. Now, it's time for me to do my job and figure out how to get them to play the best soccer possible."
