Coming off the pitch with a 5-1 victory over North Ridgeville on Aug. 24, the Westlake Demons showed they have grown a lot over the past year.
The team went 10-7-0 a year ago, with experience returning at both forward spots, the midfield and the back line. It’s still a younger team, but they’ve started to piece together what it takes to be successful.
Coming off a crushing 3-2 loss to Magnificat, the extra year of experience showed against North Ridgeville as they’ve grown as a group.
“I think Individually, Jessie (Meno), Ella (Henton), are obviously one year older in high school, that’s a significant amount,” Westlake coach Dan O’Brien said. Jesse started since her sophomore year and Ella started as a freshman.”
The two players are three-year starters for Westlake, with Meno now a senior and Henton a junior, along with senior captain Ava Kontak and junior midfielder Avery Shreffler in the same boat.
“All of them have had significant playing time over the last three years and they’re all kind of maturing together.”
Shreffler agreed with the sentiment shared by her coach, having grown alongside this current core.
“I think this season we’re going to have a lot of success,” Shreffler said. “All of the core of our team happens to be older now. Obviously, we have Jessie, Ava and Colleen (Urich) who are all seniors this year, and me and Ella who are juniors. Now that we’re all old enough to play at this high of a level, we’re all going to do great this season.”
In a tough GLC conference with the likes of Bay and Rocky River being key roadblocks, the ability to accomplish what they have in a short time for a younger squad only serves to prepare them for the road ahead.
“We’ve accomplished a lot,” Ella Henton said. “We are all a bit younger, so we’re figuring it out in practices and scrimmages and stuff like that. We’re doing pretty good. I think we just need to connect more because there are some players that are new.”
Among the senior leaders, Meno knows this team has what it takes and has shown some resilience over the course of a few games so far. The team has big aspirations going forward and the only path ahead is up.
“We’re really excited for the rest of the season,” Meno said. “Hopefully we can be just as successful (in our next game) and in the playoffs, too.”
O’Brien has been impressed by the additions in the back, with goalie Kylie Colacarro as one of a few examples on the back side. Mix that with the experience up front and it’s a solid foundation to build on.
“We’ve added some pieces in the back that I think are very technical skill players,” the head coach explained. “We have two new centerbacks that have done a very nice job. Overall, I think we’re a very skilled, athletic team. We’ll see how far we can go.”
