By John Raffel
Lauren DeRoo is in her sixth season of coaching a Freeland girls soccer team that was a state semifinalist last season. It was the farthest a Freeland team has advanced in the tournament.
“It was all the versatility we had on the team,” DeRoo said. “We had good forwards and good defenders. We had a good mesh of offense and defense. It worked well for us.”
Plenty of experience from last year has returned. “This year is the most [players] I think I’ll ever have back,” DeRoo said. We have 10 returning players. Half of my squad is returning.”
The Falcons have started the season 6-3.
“We started off slow,” DeRoo said. “We had a gauntlet of things to get through first. It kind of showed where our weaknesses were. We’re starting to pick it up, and I think we’re going to have a strong rest of the season. We played some really good teams the first couple of games. In some we felt short. But we could see where our weaknesses were.”
By the time the season ends, “this team will be as good as last year’s” DeRoo said. “It’s like a big family.”
Top players this season are expected to include Taylor Herring and Jessie Piper. “Taylor plays defensive and Jesse plays offensive,” DeRoo said. “Those are two major players.”
Sophomore Michelle Herring, Taylor’s younger sister, is a “a phenomenal offensive player,” DeRoo continued. “She finishes well, she’s a very skilled player. She sees the field well, as well as her sister.”
Taryn Taugher is another versatile player for the team.
“I have a pretty good freshman [McKenzie Stroebel] who is a strong player and is good at finishing,” DeRoo said. “She’s very athletic.”
DeRoos indicated that this is a team that does well in connecting passes and movement off the ball, and moving it up the field and switching it
“They definitely want to make it back to where we were last year,” DeRoo said, “and make it back to the final four and hopefully to the final round. They’re really working hard in practice. They’re giving me 100 percent effort. I know they want to make it back there. That’s where their goal is set.”
Freeland lost, 3-0, to Detroit Country Day in the semifinal last season. Country Day went on to lose, 3-1, to Unity Christian in the title game.
Whether or not her team is on the right path right now to achieve those goals “depends on the game,” DeRoo said. “This past week has been a mess because the weather is so unpredictable. Sometimes, I feel weather can play a part on how their play is, because they can get sloppy. They saw some developmental things they need to work on by the end of the season. Probably within the next couple of weeks, they should be ready to go.”