For coach Ben Arms and the Winder-Barrow High School Lady Bulldogg soccer team, this is familiar territory.
Despite some key losses from last year’s team, WBHS is back on the big stage of high school soccer, having qualified for the upcoming Class AAAA state playoffs, scheduled to begin next week.
Arms guided his team to an 8-2 record in Region 8-AAAA, good enough for second place. The Lady Bulldoggs wrapped up the regular season Friday with a 3-0 win against region foe Salem as Taylor West scored two goals and Sara Burns added another.
The postseason baegins Tuesday when WBHS will host Lakeside High School, the No. 3 seed from Region 6-AAAA, at W. Clair Harris Stadium.
West and Burns are two of three seniors for the Lady Bulldoggs in 2011 along with Georgia Stepp, the team captain.
For Arms, the key to the team’s success this spring has been overall soccer experience.
“The girls are an experienced bunch on the field,” the coach said. “They played well together last season and for their club teams last fall.”
With 11 overall wins in 2011, WBHS will look to make some noise in the postseason against some of the upper level soccer programs in the state. Arms said one strength of the team has been a balanced attack.
“It would be hard to pick any one player who stands out,” Arms said. It’s a team effort trying to score goals and keep the other team off the scoreboard in an effort to win those state playoff matches. I do think every Lady Soccer Dogg will come to play on April 26.”
Arms, who had guided the program to the state playoffs, six times in his 11 seasons as coach, said the success of the WBHS program in recent years is having an impact behind the high school field.
“I think the younger girls playing soccer at the Recreation Department and the YMCA one day hope to play soccer at WBHS because of our success,” the coach said.
The home playoff match will be the first for the program since 2007.
This spring also marks the first time since the 2001-2002 seasons that the WBHS Lady Bulldoggs have qualified in consecutive seasons for the state tournament.
