Morehead City – If the second season under head coach Corey Noe goes as well as the first, the West Carteret girls soccer team will be in good hands.
Only one team stood in the way of the Patriots in the 3A Coastal Conference last year, Dixon at 9-0-1 and West at 8-2. This matched the program's best league performance since the 2018 season.
“I couldn't get past Dixon, but I played well,” Noe said. “This year ended a little earlier than we would have liked. We have high expectations. I don't know why we can't win the conference and make the playoffs, but it's up to us. It's up to us. It’s not given to us.”
Noe returns his top two scorers and top keeper from a team that went 14-6-1 and won the most games since 2018. West lost 2-0 to Currituck in the first round of the state playoffs.
Sam Huber led the team with 52 points with 20 goals and 12 assists, and Sasha Baker was second on the team with 13 goals. Both were second-year students.
“One of our biggest strengths is Sam and Sasha and their scoring ability,” Noe said. “We want to play all over the field, press, get third and score. If that means putting our backs at risk, that's how we do it.”
Noe can make the backline dangerous with a keeper like Chloe Dunne.
The Wingate commitment earned him the News-Times Player of the Year award after earning all-county and all-conference honors as a junior. She kept seven clean sheets, including four in the league. Dunn helped the team win six more games overall and five more league games than the previous spring.
“Our biggest strength is our all-district level goalies,” Noe said. “She's really outstanding. I've never seen her saves before. She's unreal and a great leader.”
Dan joins Aubrey McCall as the team's senior captain.
The junior class of nine includes: Caroline Dickinson, Kate Siebert, Addison McAnulty, Ella Graham, Lily Smith, Ruby Parker, Gracen Fredeen, Huber, and Baker. Seven of them were starters by the end of last season.
Dickinson is the most talented of the talented.
“She’s very impressive,” Noe said. “She paces every practice, leads the pack, is versatile, can play outside, inside and on the backline, and is a great defender with great attacking instincts.”
West should also benefit from a three-member freshman class that includes Charlie Sommer, Gillum Parker and Becca McBride.
“They were very impressive from the beginning,” Noe said. “They're aggressive players. We're not keeping them just because. They're going to play. All three are super fast, super technical, super strong.”
A duo of foreign students brings depth. Hannah Palmer of Germany and Lotte Heesen of the Netherlands have never played soccer, but they are big.
“You might be pleasantly surprised,” Noe said.
Noe will have to find a way to fill in the shoes of three veteran players who graduated in Emmy Wade Langley and Mary Neil Rowland.
“The seniors were good and had a lot of experience,” he said. “We graduated a great class of kids, but the nice thing is we bring back a lot of girls who played a lot of minutes.”
The Patriots open the season Tuesday at Northside Jacksonville.
