By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The West Salem Girls Soccer team had one of those Cinderella-like runs last Fall in Kaylyn Okerstrom’s first season as Head Coach of the Titans Soccer Program.
After a 1-3 start to the season, West Salem finished the year 6-2-3 that featured a PK victory over Tigard in the opening round of the playoffs and took the 11th seed in Westview to PK’s before falling. All as the 27th seed entering the playoffs.
For Okerstrom, she wanted to make a statement in her first season as Head Coach as a foundation for the years to come.
“I think it said a lot about our team, to not only go into the first round and upset number six Tigard in PK’s and then to hold Westview to 0-0 and get to PK’s. It really showed the grit and the determination that our team had…I think a lot of people didn’t expect it, so to make a statement in that way I think was huge for our school, but also our league,” Okerstrom said.
The squad last season had a nice blend of senior leaders and returners to set up what is expected of them. To win the possession game and limit the errors if the other team has the ball. That’s going to be more the case as they only return one from their defensive backline in Lillian Karschnia, who will be expected to anchor the young line this season as a senior.
“She’s going to really anchor that and help out our incoming Varsity members understand how important defense is to us,” Okerstrom said of Karschnia. “With the new backline, we are going to make some mistakes with one returning defender. So I’m going to try to focus on that defensive aspect to making sure we’re strong because if we have a strong defense, we’ll only need to score one goal. And if we have the ball most of the time, that limits the amount of mistakes we can make off the ball, which reducing the amount of time the opposing teams can come back.”
Karschnia is one of the three senior captains on the West Salem squad this Fall, joining Liliana Eckert and Johana Diaz in that department. Eckert and Diaz were starters in the Midfield as juniors last year and Okerstrom is expecting good things from them once more this year to help alleviate the pressure off their young backline as they work on bringing them up to speed during the preseason.
“I fully expect them to continue that role and build up the foundation that we have,” Okerstrom said of her Senior Midfielders.
The Titans head to Canby on Thursday for a jamboree before opening the season, September 2, at Sheldon.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
