The Odessa High girls soccer team will be entering 2024 with unfinished business.
After just barely missing out on the playoffs last year, the Lady Bronchos return a number of experienced players.
“We have a lot of excitement,” said Odessa High head coach Cecila Kellar. “We have a good group of kids that have been bringing a lot of excitement and energy to practice. We’re very excited to see what the new year holds.”
Last spring, the Lady Bronchos finished tied for fourth place with Midland High in the District 2-6A standings.
Odessa High ended up losing the play-in game to Midland High, bringing the Lady Bronchos’ season to a close.
However, Kellar is optimistic about her team’s chances of making the postseason this year.
“We have a good majority coming back,” Kellar said. “We have a lot of players who have stepped up into some big roles. We have a good senior class as well that’s leading us. We have a good junior and senior class.”
Some of the things this year’s team has been working on has included finishing.
“It’s definitely something that we’ve been focusing on since last year,” Kellar said. “The players have done a good job of paying attention and trying new things to become a bit more creative to get us into that final third and to scoring opportunities. I think the group right now, their ability to communicate with each other and work through situations as well as our ability to make good choices has been good so far. Those will be two things that we’ll focus on and be big factors this year.”
There are a lot of versatile players on this year’s varsity roster that can create multiple threats.
“It’s hard to pick especially from this group,” Kellar said. “We have versatile players who will take on different roles. That’s something that we’ve talked about. We have players who have played different positions with us last year and will play different positions this year. I think it’s about taking care of responsibilities while being out on the field.”
As for District 2-6A this year, Kellar knows it’ll be another tough run as teams like Wolfforth Frenship, Permian, Midland High and San Angelo Central look to make another postseason run.
“District is always going to be tough,” Kellar said. “Every game, you have to be ready to compete and be ready to fight. The expectation is that we come out and be ready to compete and work on each game day.”
The Lady Bronchos will begin district play on Feb. 2 against Permian.
