Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
For two of the past three years, the Nouvel Catholic Central girls soccer team saw its season come to an end at the feet of Bishop Foley Catholic in the Division 4 state semifinals.
This year, the Panthers gained some much-needed confidence by recently beating Bishop Foley, the reigning state champion, in its own tournament 1-0.
Now Nouvel heads into this year’s state tournament believing.
“That was a great win for our whole team,” senior midfielder Alexis Helpap said. “To finally beat a team that are the defending state champions, really gives our team confidence. Now we know we can beat them.”
Helpap’s little sister, freshman outside midfielder Gabrielle Helpap, wasn’t around to see her team lose to Bishop Foley 3-0 in last year’s semifinals, and 2-0 in the 2009 semifinals, but she knew beating the Ventures was a big deal.
“It was great since this was my first year on the team,” Gabrielle said. “I knew it was big to beat them and a great experience for me.”
The Helpap sisters have been played a big part in Nouvel’s success this year with their solid play. It’s solid play that the girls have picked up at home. They began playing the sport at an early age and have been coached and tutored along the way by their stepfather, Chad Kingsbury.
Kingsbury, who played collegiate soccer at Wright State University in Ohio, said the girls were always willing to learn, even at a young age.
“This pretty much has been their sport, and they have improved so much,” Kingsbury said. “I coached them on our club team, the Saginaw Surge, and Gabrielle was in Michigan Olympic Developmental Program. They have put a lot of effort into the sport.”
That has paid off for Alexis, who will be continuing her playing days next year at Delta College.
But first, she would love to leave Nouvel Catholic Central with a state championship in hand.
The team heads into this year’s state tournament, which begins this week at Valley Lutheran in district action, with a 12-5-1 record and a slew of talent.
Talent like the Helpap sisters and Aubree Snow, the forward who scored that lone goal that beat Bishop Foley.
“We have the talent we need, now we just need to play our soccer,” Alexis Helpap said. “We need to put it on the field, just like we did against Bishop Foley.”
Added Gabrielle Helpap: “I think we can win state, absolutely. We have great talent on this team, and they have been really great accepting me on the team. I never felt like a freshman; we are like a big family, and I think that’s going to help us in the tournament.”