Cassville girls varsity soccer on historic shutout streak
May 1, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
Cassville girls varsity soccer is in its first year at Cassville High, and already, the team is setting a standard that will be difficult for future generations to replicate. The team is currently on a seven-game, 511 minute-long streak of continuous shutout play.
After a rocky start, the team found themselves on a six-game losing streak earlier in the season. According to head coach Jake Forste, the team rallied together to try and change their strategy for the rest of the season.
“We had a losing streak early in the season,” said Forste. “We were playing some really tough teams, but we were defensively rock-solid. We knew that, if we just stayed the course, it was going to start translating in to wins.”
Last week, the team scored three of their shutout wins with a 1-0 win against Greenwood, a 1-0 game against McDonald County and 2-0 game against Aurora.
Forste went on to explain that part of his team’s strength comes from their capacity to work together, emphasizing the idea that a soccer team’s defense is more than just the goalie.
“It’s been pretty remarkable. We’ve had about 18 girls contribute to the streak in some way. Everyone is working together,” Forste said.
Forste stated that another secret to his team’s continued success is their attitude toward defense, something he claims is an uncommon sentiment for most players.
“It’s about being hard-nosed and taking pride on the defensive end as much as the goal-scoring end,” said Forste. “I think it’s common for most players to care more about scoring goals than stopping goals. With this group, we all have the belief that ‘defense first’ is our mantra. We may go for it, but we’ll be nails on the back end. Always.”
On Thursday, May 2, the girls soccer team will have an opportunity to keep their impressive streak going at Fair Grove.
“We’re going in with that same defense-first mantra. Hopefully we can keep the streak alive and score another shutout,” Forste said.
Vinnie Roberts
Cassville girls varsity soccer is in its first year at Cassville High, and already, the team is setting a standard that will be difficult for future generations to replicate. The team is currently on a seven-game, 511 minute-long streak of continuous shutout play.
After a rocky start, the team found themselves on a six-game losing streak earlier in the season. According to head coach Jake Forste, the team rallied together to try and change their strategy for the rest of the season.
“We had a losing streak early in the season,” said Forste. “We were playing some really tough teams, but we were defensively rock-solid. We knew that, if we just stayed the course, it was going to start translating in to wins.”
Last week, the team scored three of their shutout wins with a 1-0 win against Greenwood, a 1-0 game against McDonald County and 2-0 game against Aurora.
Forste went on to explain that part of his team’s strength comes from their capacity to work together, emphasizing the idea that a soccer team’s defense is more than just the goalie.
“It’s been pretty remarkable. We’ve had about 18 girls contribute to the streak in some way. Everyone is working together,” Forste said.
Forste stated that another secret to his team’s continued success is their attitude toward defense, something he claims is an uncommon sentiment for most players.
“It’s about being hard-nosed and taking pride on the defensive end as much as the goal-scoring end,” said Forste. “I think it’s common for most players to care more about scoring goals than stopping goals. With this group, we all have the belief that ‘defense first’ is our mantra. We may go for it, but we’ll be nails on the back end. Always.”
On Thursday, May 2, the girls soccer team will have an opportunity to keep their impressive streak going at Fair Grove.
“We’re going in with that same defense-first mantra. Hopefully we can keep the streak alive and score another shutout,” Forste said.