North Oldham enters this season with plenty of holes to fill.
The Lady Mustangs graduated 82.3% of its goal production from a team that went 11-6-0 last season and reached the Eighth Region finals twice during its tenure, leaving plenty of opportunity.
“We lost nine or 10 girls to graduation or injury, but it’s been good. We’ve got some younger girls that are willing to step up,” NOHS head coach Tiffany Harris said. “This year’s definitely going to be an opportunity for them to show up because we’re going to need them.”
The previous lack of opportunity puts the team in a difficult position as several of its players adjust to varsity competition.
“The hard part losing a lot of those seniors is that a lot of them played varsity minutes since they were freshmen or sophomores,” assistant coach Sloane Costelle said. “Now, we’ve got a lot of younger girls that maybe didn’t have those varsity minutes coming in this year having to play significant varsity time, and it’s just a quicker game, it’s more physical. Them adjusting to that style of play is more difficult.”
However, the coaching staff said the team’s newcomers are taking the necessary steps to becoming varsity-ready ahead of the season.
“These girls listen really well,” Harris said. “We saw it in the University of Louisville camp we went to last week. We play Assumption for one half then Oldham County for the second half, and they were able to take the things we told them between the two halves and execute it. If they continue to have that same type of coachability, then I think we’re going to have a really successful season.”
North Oldham returns a few impact seniors in defender Kenliann Patterson, midfielder Cheney Carey (three goals, seven assists in 2022) and goalkeeper Emily Monsour (70 saves, eight shutouts).
The trio gives the Lady Mustangs at least one experienced player at each position, something that will help the newcomers progress.
“We’ve got some senior leadership coming up that has been here since they were freshmen playing varsity for us. They’re providing good leadership for the young girls,” Harris said. “We have solid players in each line of us. They know what to expect. … Thankfully we have them because they’re providing everything they need to help these girls build and come together.”
They’re already hard at work attempting to gel with the team’s newcomers.
“We’re focusing a lot on our team bonding because we have so many players that were on JV last year that we don’t know really well,” Carey said. “We’re getting together off the field so that, on the field, we have a better bond with those that are stepping up.”
While the team still has talent to hang its hat on, Harris said remaining healthy will be critical this season for the team after losing a plethora of players.
“One area of focus is our numbers,” Harris said. “It’s not something we can necessarily control one way or the other, but we really have to work on our conditioning and strength. We have no room to get injured because if we do, we’re short on numbers.”
Last year, North Oldham failed to reach the Eighth Region tournament for the first time since 2018 after losing to Oldham County via penalty kicks in the 29th District semifinals, something the seniors said motivated them all offseason.
“That game left all of us with a sour taste in our mouth,” Carey said. “We want to come back to beat OC. For us going into that game, whenever that happens, it’s going to be a different kind of fight. We really want to beat them this time.”
The team faces an uphill climb to get out of one of the state’s tougher districts with a roster full of new faces, but it expects to compete at that level by the postseason.
“We know our potential,” Patterson said. “We can easily do it if we all just work together.”
North Oldham opens its season at home against Central Hardin on Aug. 7.