If it weren’t for bad luck, first-year Ada girls soccer coach Stephanie Gutierrez might not have any at all.
Before the Lady Cougars could make it to the April portion of their schedule, senior standouts Kennadee Bickerstaff and Natalia Palmer went down with what has now been determined season-ending injuries. Both players were injured during Ada’s District 4A-1 opener against Bethany. The Lady Bronchos, who are at the top of the 4A-1 standings, handed Ada a 7-0 loss.
Bickerstaff, who has signed with Southwestern Christian University to continue her soccer career, was lost to an ACL injury, and Palma suffered a broken arm.
“Kennadee saw her promising senior soccer campaign end prematurely and another senior, Natalia is also out for the rest of the season,” Gutierrez told The Ada News. “I am completely gutted for both of those girls. It’s hard losing two of your starters so early in the season, during your first district game.”
The bad luck continued.
Ada then traveled to the Rose Rock Tournament in Noble and during a first-round contest, lost via penalty kicks to Verdigris. During that contest, starting goalkeeper Naely Velazquez left the match with an injury with 10 minutes left in regulation. Verdigris won 3-1 via penalty kicks. Junior Nina Benton converted the Lady Cougars’ lone penalty kick.
Junior Kahlan Kuehl was solid in the net as Ada’s backup goalie.
On Day 2 of the Rose Rock Tournament, the Lady Cougars dropped a 2-0 decision to Moore JV.
The bad luck continued.
Just 10 minutes into that contest, junior defensive starter Lilly Harper left with an ankle injury.
“It was a rainy morning on the turf … and the girls gave a solid effort throughout the game. But we just could not get it going offensively,” Gutierrez said.
The Lady Cougars defeated Altus 2-0 during Day 3 of the Rose Rock Tournament. Freshman Jadyce Burns scored both Ada goals during the victory and Alyssa Delgado registered a pair of assists.
“It was a much-needed win after a tough week full of injuries and having to move players around to different positions,” Gutierrez said.
Benton was named to the all-tournament team.
“She’s playing her best soccer so far and I expect that to continue,” Gutierrez said.
The Lady Cougars, now 1-8 overall and 0-2 in 4A-1 play, dropped a 7-1 decision to Chickasha in a Tuesday night home game.
After Benton scored on a penalty kick after a foul in the box by the Figthin’ Chicks, Ada trailed just 2-1. But Chickasha — which improved to 9-4 — scored three more times before halftime and the Lady Cougars couldn’t make up the difference.
“After halftime, the girls struggled to get any offense going, and the ball remained on our defensive end for most of the second half,” Gutierrez said.
Austin Clift and Brynlie Alexander both scored two first-half goals for the Fightin’ Chicks and Lainey Jones also had an early goal.
Despite the scoreboard, Kuehl had arguably her best game of the year in the net for Ada, registering an incredible 18 saves.
“The Chickasha girls were a solid group and it was a physical game from start to finish,” Gutierrez said.
One thing about it, you can bet that Gutierrez will have her team continue to go to battle week in and week out. There won’t be any doom, despair and agony over here.
The Lady Cougars traveled to Ardmore Friday night and are then off until a trip to Community Christian on April 11. Between now and then, Ada will hope to get as healthy as possible and turn that back luck around.
“We have been hit hard with the injury bug early into the season, but we are going to try and get as healthy as possible. We’re going to continue putting in the work as a team and make a run the rest of the season for a playoff spot,” Gutierrez said.
