Eagles Give Fans Plenty to Cheer About in Season-Opening Women’s Soccer Tie

With a roster of 20 players, the 2024 College of the Siskiyous women's soccer team will have many more substitution options than they've had in the recent past.

Fifteen Eagles saw action in Sunday's season-opener on the Eagles' home field, which ended in a 2-2 tie against a strong Truckee Meadows program.

The Eagles trailed 2-0 before freshman Maiyah McDonald of Central Point, OR, scored on an assist from freshman Jonell Alderson of Palo Cedro to cut the deficit 30 minutes into the first half.

A long kick by freshman goalkeeper Avery Suhr of Greeley, CO, led to a breakaway goal by freshman Brooklyn Wade of Yuma, AZ, which tied the score late in the second half.

Suhr finished with 7 saves on Truckee Meadows' 9 shots on goal.

Head coach Ed Kephart said this year's women's team is deeper than it's been since the Covid pandemic began. He's not expecting to play any games without subs like they did half the time last year.

Things are looking up overall for the Eagle women, who have six returning sophomores, all from Siskiyou County high schools, and 14 freshmen from near and far, including Colorado, Arizona and Idaho.

Kephart, the Eagles' head men's and women's soccer coach since the program began in 2016, has an expanded coaching staff assisting the women this fall. Jake Leiffer of Weed returns as an assistant and is joined on the staff by former Crater High School head coach Bryton Kiger and former Eagle goalkeeper Teya Amidei.

The coaches are excited about the team's potential, which was on display in the earlier than usual first home match as well as during scrimmages the previous Friday at Southwestern Oregon Community College and last Tuesday at Umpqua.

Prior to the start of league in late September, the Eagles will have one more home match, September 20 against Yuba.

The returning sophomores were all in the starting lineup regularly last year. They are:

Midfielders: No. 5 Abigail Escobedo of Weed and No. 9 Sophia Coleman of Mt. Shasta.

Forward: No. 11 Alexa Luquin of Mt. Shasta.

Defenders: No. 14 Elyssa Harrison of McCloud and No. 18 Litzy Ochoa-Garcia of Yreka.

Goalkeeper: No. 24 Haley Chapman of Yreka, who ranked 7th in the state last year with 131 saves.

Freshmen on the roster are:

Goalkeepers: No. 0 Oceanna Knight of Anderson and No. 1 Avery Suhr of Greeley, CO.

Midfielders: No. 2 Meadow Cummings of Yreka, No. 10 Cheyenne Thompson of Priest River, ID, No. 15 Katie Effa of Redding, No. 16 Corynn Lemos of Redding and No. 23 Maddie Towner of Mt. Shasta, one of many Eagles whose play all over the field elicited cheers from the fans Sunday.

Defenders: No. 3 Marissa Whitt of Central Point, OR, No. 4 Izabella Ault of Cottonwood, No. 7 Harrisen Poe of Medford, OR, and No. 12 Sybella Worley of Central Point, OR.

Forwards: No. 6 Maiyah McDonald of Central Point, OR, No. 8 Jonell Alderson of Palo Cedro, and No. 22 Brooklyn Wade of Yuma, AZ.

Among the new Eagles, Kephart said Brooklyn Wade, Jonell Alderson, and Maiyah McDonald are all strong attacking players, while Avery Suhr at goalkeeper and Corynn Lemos at midfield will be big factors.

Sophomore Elyssa Harrison from Mt. Shasta High School will again anchor the defense, which is expected to get help from defenders like Harrisen Poe, Sybella Worley, and Marissa Whitt, who, along with Maiyah McDonald and assistant coach Bryton Kiger, have all joined the Eagles from Crater High School.

That Crater contingent helped in boosting the numbers on this year roster, and Kephart said another factor was the Western Undergraduate Exchange, which provides reduced tuition for eligible students in western states who leave their home state to attend college.

Kephart said Kiger's recruiting efforts also helped, as did some connections that came through in the Redding area.

He sees the Eagles being able to compete well once the Golden Valley Conference season opens, although he doesn't expect defending champion Lake Tahoe to go away anytime soon. Lake Tahoe outscored its GVC opponents 83-0 during a 10-0 conference season last year.

"I think we can give Lake Tahoe a decent game this year, and everyone else in league is probably pretty even," Kephart said.