Guerin Catholic girls soccer playing at a new level

By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
It’s not a secret that the Guerin Catholic girls soccer program has quickly become a powerhouse.
The Golden Eagles have won games, post-season championships, even made an appearance at the state finals over the past 10 years. In other words, people know about what that Guerin soccer team is all about.
It may have taken a while for the rankings to finally reflect that, but that happened on Monday, when the Golden Eagles jumped to No. 3 in Class 3A, their highest ranking ever. Guerin Catholic had opened its season with wins over Westfield and Carmel last week, and picked up its third win on Thursday by overwhelming Heritage Christian – the No. 4 team in 1A – 7-0 at the GC field.
“It’s always great to get respect,” said Guerin coach Jonathan McClure. “I’m really proud of the girls for my colleagues demonstrating what they’ve been doing on the field so far. But again, we got a long way to go.”
McClure, who coached the Golden Eagles to an appearance in the 2010 state finals (back when soccer was still a one-class sport), noted – as any experienced coach would – that “a ranking’s just a ranking,” and that it matters more how a team is playing in October than what it’s doing in August.
At the same time, the coach is also aware that such a high spot in the rankings does bring on a new sense of ownership, and some new questions for the team.
“With that comes a new brand of ownership and a new mentality, really,” said McClure. “One thing we’re starting to talk with the girls with is ‘How do we own that?’ ‘Is that important for you?’ ‘How do we go about that?’ ‘How does it maybe change and tighten up what we’ve done to this point and where we’re going?'”
Guerin Catholic had no problem going in a winning direction against Heritage, the pre-season No. 1 in 1A, Thursday night. The Golden Eagles scored their first goal 16 seconds into the game, and led 6-0 at halftime. Cassidy Lindley put in three goals, with Elle Vuotto, Dani Mason, Anna Heck and Kyra Ferry all scoring one.
“We were looking to get into a faster start in every contest that we have this season,” said McClure. “The girls were able to do that tonight.”
There is no rest for the highly-ranked in girls soccer, of course. Next up is a Saturday game with Brebeuf Jesuit, the No. 5 team in 3A.