The story of the Perry girls soccer team for the past several seasons has been eerily similar: a solid regular season leads to a strong postseason push which ends in a narrow loss denying a trip to the state tournament.
Perry had a tough playoff draw last season and was forced to face eighth-ranked ADM in Adel. The Tigers had defeated the Jayettes, 10-0, earlier in the season but had to fight to the bitter end to eliminate Perry, 2-1.
Now Perry (10-6, 5-2 in RRC play) will have to replace four starters lost to graduation, all key pieces on the defense and in the midfield.
However, head coach Gilmar Guerra is not without plenty of returning weapons, including one of the most explosive offensive players in Class 2A, senior striker Natalie Martinez. Her 29 goals last season was fifth-best in the class and came in 16 games. She has 69 goals and seven assists in her career but has been plagued by nagging injuries that have either cost the speedster games or limited her effectiveness, and keeping her healthy and on the pitch will be a high priority.
Other multiple goal scorers returning include juniors Jaqueline Guardado (5 goals, two assists), Molly Lutmer (4-1) and Magley Orellana (2-0), along with sophomore Cris Gomez (3-2). Senior Emely Rodriguez (1-1) and junior Lexie Welch (1-0) also scored, with juniors Carly Herrera and Denise Mejia each tallying a single assist.
Sophomore Odaly Perla had a 2.92 goals against average as a sophomore last year and will be given the start between the pipes to begin the season.
Guerra stated that filling the defensive holes would determine the success of the season. He said he was confident in the offense, and believed the midfield would firm up after some experience while repeatedly insisting “it is all going to be about the defense.”
Perry hosts Winterset at Dewey Field in their season opener tonight, with Carlisle to visit Perry Thursday. Junior varsity play will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity to start at 7 p.m.
