SENATOBIA – For the second time in the last five years, the Northwest women's soccer team followed up a playoff season with a losing record in 2018.

Northwest finished 4-10-1 on the year and failed to replicate its postseason success from 2017, when the Lady Rangers advanced to the MACJC Semifinals for the second time in head coach Levi Nunnally's tenure.

Despite the disappointing result, Nunnally and his team took away a lot of positive strides from last season. Northwest returns several key contributors from last year's roster, along with a sizable freshman class that makes this season's squad one of the largest in recent memory.

"We have 24 girls entering the season," seventh-year head coach Nunnally said. "I'm looking for a lot of our freshmen to come in, do their job and fill those roles that we are looking for. We have two freshmen that will likely play up top and several center midfielders that will play a key role as well. We have strong outside midfielders and some new faces in the back. As big as our freshman class is, we're going to need all of them to come in and step up right away."

Nunnally's freshmen up front will be joined by the returning sophomore and leading scorer Cheyenne Smith. As a freshman, Smith stepped up right away with three goals in the Lady Rangers' opening two matches last season, finishing with 12 for the year and three game-winners. 

Other sophomore contributors include Presley Farr, Sydney Shelton, Summer Sherrod, Mallary Cox, Kristin Davidson and Carolyn Rials, who missed nearly all of last season due to injury. Rials will be expected to lead as an outside midfielder along with freshman and Oxford native Katelyn Rock. For a solid Oxford HS program, Rock scored nine goals on 14 assists as she helped the Lady Chargers to an 18-2-1 overall record, the Region 2-6A title and the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs last season.

Farr is expected to help lead the center midfielders, which also include freshmen Cody Dowell and Mallory Jones. As teammates and co-captains at Lewisburg, Dowell and Jones helped the Lady Patriots to a 15-3-1 overall record, a Region 1-5A title and a Class 5A North Half appearance last season, with both players receiving Best Defense and Hustle awards.

"Each area is standing out in their own way," Nunnally said, on his team's performance during fall camp. "We've played a little throughout preseason and our forwards are doing a good job of making their runs and putting balls on the frame. Our center midfielders are technical players, they're sound and confident. Defensively, we're looking to see how our center backs fare against competition this week."

One area that will be especially hard to replace is the goalkeeper slot. Angel Hailey proved to be a dominant force between the posts, earning ___ shutouts and shattering the program's all-time saves record at 255. For her efforts, the Southaven native signed with ULM in the offseason, becoming the Lady Rangers' second Division I signee in as many seasons, joining Tempest Shepherd (Southern University).

Northwest will have three freshmen to choose from at goalkeeper, including former Center Hill standout Trinity Baynham. Baynham had quite the career at Center Hill, recording a career total of 449 saves, including a career-best 158 stops as a junior. She also earned multiple national Player of the Week accolades during her junior year by MaxPreps and United Soccer Coaches.

Joining Baynham in the keeper rotation will be sophomore transfer Jakeria Wilson (King University/Senatobia HS) and Maggie Olive (Lewisburg HS). Despite seeing limited action at King, Wilson recorded 11 shutouts as a senior at Senatobia, while Olive compiled 44 saves and five shutouts as a junior.

"To have three compete for that spot is going to raise their competitiveness and training," Nunnally said. "There are a number of things that can take a player off the field so if that happens, it's nice to have that reassurance that you have quality goalkeepers that can do their job."

This season's schedule is a mixed bag for the Lady Rangers, as Northwest is slated for two long road trips out of the gate at Dyersburg State and Motlow State. Northwest will also face Columbia State in a neutral-site contest in Meridian, a formidable local rival in Southwest Tennessee, as well as strong MACJC South Division opponents Jones and Mississippi Gulf Coast and the usual gauntlet of North Division foes in Itawamba, East Central, Holmes and Hinds.

"There are no days off," Nunnally said. "You have to go in and be prepared to fight for a win. There are no easy games."

While Nunnally and his team have the obvious goal of earning more wins, the goals for this season extend beyond the pitch. Nunnally has also stressed to his team the importance of sportsmanship and getting things done in the classroom.

"We want to be an all-academic team," Nunnally said. "That is ultimately why they are here. Playing soccer is a plus and not everyone gets the chance to do that. We want to make the playoffs and we also want to win the Tom Shepherd award for sportsmanship. Those three things are important to me, they are important to our team and I believe it's important to our school as well."

Northwest opens the 2019 campaign on Thursday, August 22 at Dyersburg State. The Lady Rangers will play two more matches on the road at Motlow State (Aug. 24) and Hinds (Aug. 30) before opening up the home portion of the schedule against Meridian on Tuesday, September 3. 

Live stats will be available for all matches this season through nwccrangers.com.