Mount Pleasant’s Emma Kahn played no small role in her team’s successful postseason run.
“She does her job quite well,” said coach John Bunting. “Wherever she’s at, she draws a lot of attention. When she’s able to distribute the ball, she does. When she draws two or three defenders, that will draw opportunities for other players.”
Kahn had 17 goals and 15 assists this season and led the team in both categories.
“I think this is the strongest our team has ever been in four years of playing,” she said. “We really started to click. You see time and time throughout the season we suffer a lot of injuries. We’ve been getting stronger and stronger.”
Coming into this season, Kahn, a midfielder, had racked up 49 goals and 31 assists for Mount Pleasant and was on the 2013 Sports Scene Girls Soccer Dream Team. She was playing club ball for the Saginaw Vardar soccer club and was a captain for all of her teams.
“I’m very happy with my play this year,” she said. “I’m playing a different type of position, which is not what I’m used to. I’m passing a lot more. I’m more of a forward more than midfield, but I’m still midfield.
“I’ve learned how to become a better player every year. I think I’ve improved a lot, more so learning how to be a [multi] dimensional player.”
Kahn has played soccer since she was four. “My dad was the coach of my first team, called the Watermelon Blasters,” she said. “I developed a love and passion for it.”
Her career is far from over, considering that she’ll be playing in the collegiate ranks for Western Michigan University.
“I think they’re looking at me more as an attacking outside mid,” Kahn said. “I’ll focus on my workouts. We’ve been given a summer workout plan. I’ll work on that, and try to be the best I can be.”
“She’s so dynamic, that it’s hard to stop her in so many ways,” Bunting said. “A lot of teams start to focus on her so much, and there’s great talent around her that are able to get success.”
It was her fourth season. Was it her best?
“As far as production, no, but she has a lot more assists this year, and she was aware of more of her teammates,” Bunting said. “It’s her best year because she’s gotten her team to where they are now. She was able to work with her [teammates].”
Bunting had a team that finished at 13-5-5 and advanced as far as it ever has in the past. But the regional title slipped from his team’s grasp when its season ended in a 1-0 loss to Grand Rapids Christian in the Division 2 regional final.
Katelynn Hartman scored twice for the Oilers in their 2-0 victory over Reeths-Puffer in the regional semifinal.
Kahn scored the only goal in her team’s 1-0 district title win over Cadillac.
“Last year, we had a lot of great seniors that graduated,” Kahn said. We have some freshmen coming up. We just wanted it more.”