Orrville High soccer teams enjoying stellar seasons
Valerie Gonzalez-Quinteros (1) has been one of the key contributors in the first varsity season for the Orrville High girls soccer team.
When Orrville’s girls soccer club was playing a junior varsity schedule last fall, the goal was to compete every time out.
It’s something the Red Riders, currently in the midst of the program’s inaugural varsity season, has taken to heart.
The result has been an 8-2-1 record entering the final month of the season. Coach Jacob Stuart’s squad has progressed faster than most first-year teams across the state.
“The transition hasn’t been perfect, but at the same time, it is not normal for a first-year varsity team to be as competitive as we are,” Stuart said. “Even with some inconsistencies, the team has gotten more comfortable playing at varsity-level speed as the season has progressed.”
Indeed it has as Orrville, with the exception of a multi-goal loss to state-qualifying Manchester, has been competitive every time out.
And it all started with Will and Brittany Armentrout helping to build the program from the ground up, spending hours helping the current freshman and sophomore-heavy team prepare for their moment to become the school’s first girls soccer team.
That base from the youth to the regional level, along with a loaded offseason schedule, has helped the Red Riders realize that dream.
But the group is always looking to get better.
“The team’s willingness to improve has been the key to the early-season success,” Stuart said. “We all understood going into this season that there would be plenty of learning moments every time we played. The team is receptive to those learning moments, and they all strive to improve.”
Behind the leadership of Val Gonzalez and Emma Brede, the team has made significant strides in a season that started with an eight-match unbeaten streak.
It’s that type of guidance, according to Stuart, that has helped the rest of the team develop so quickly.
“Both have greatly helped propel us to where we are at,” he said. “They are both gamers and love being challenged. But at the end of the day, it’s a whole team effort.”
Success in the sport has been a trend in Orrville over the past couple seasons as the Red Riders’ boys program is looking for its fifth consecutive Principals Athletic Conference championship.
Despite some losses due to graduation, this year’s squad has picked up just where they left off with an 11-1-1 record entering the first week of October.
The key has been a balanced effort, notably from the team’s quad-captains Jerson Lopez-Irias, Kaleb Wayt, Corbin Tompkins and Noah Andrew. Lopez-Irias, a senior forward, has a team-best 21 goals with nine assists, followed by fellow striker Wayt (13, 5), and Tompkins and Andrew have anchored a back line that has allowed just six goals in 13 matches this fall.
But with that run of success is something the Riders know they have to work to keep going.
“As players and coaches, we stay humble each and every day,” Orrville first-year coach Jaime Maravilla said. “We don’t take anything for granted. We know anyone can be beaten on any given day. We keep our feet grounded, focusing on the present and not reminiscing on the past. Each season is different, and we take it one game at a time.”
The Red Riders also have gotten production from junior goalkeeper Gabriel Gonzales, who has posted seven shutouts, and freshman midfielder Peyton Castro — a loaded lineup that the team will lean on when the OHSAA postseason opens later this month.