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Mar. 28—JAMESTOWN — Soccer in Jamestown is getting awfully fun to watch.
In the fall, Blue Jay fans watched as a crew of 12 seniors led the Blue Jays to an unbelievable 16-0-0 record. The Jays clinched the No. 1 seed entering the 2024 State Soccer Tournament and were the only team in the state that did not lose or tie during a match.
The Jays wound up going 2-1 at the state tournament to collect a third-place trophy and end the year at 18-1-0.
Now it's time to see what the girls have got in store.
"A lot of our girls have been a part of this program for so long," third-year head coach Colton Altringer said. "Our core group who is playing all year-round has seen a lot of success and has seen what this team could be."
Altringer and the Blue Jay girls began practices on Monday and will open up the season with a home game on April 5 against Bismarck High at 1 p.m.
At 11-3-2 the Jays entered the 2024 NDHSAA State Soccer Tournament as the No. 2 seed out of the West Region. The Jays dropped to Grand Forks Red River in the opening round of the state tourney, defeated Legacy in the consolation semifinal and then dropped 1-0 to Fargo Shanley in the fifth-place game.
"Our numbers are a little healthier this year which is always a bonus," Altringer said. "We have a lot of girls who are returning. Briella Martin is going to be a huge piece for us this year, Layla Becker, both Haley and Hannah Attleson will be big pieces for us."
Becker, a freshman for the Jays, was responsible for scoring a team-high seven goals and four assists for 11 total points in her eighth grade season. Martin was one point behind with six goals and four assists, while Amelia Newman was recorded as having six goals and two assists.
If the underclassmen keep up the strong performances, it will make the loss of Reese Christ, Olivia Sorlie and Sara Sletto a little easier to deal with.
"Those three were very big for our team last year," Altringer said. "Their overall athleticism, the amount of time that they put into the program and how they led by example — they were big pieces that we are going to miss (this year).
"Olivia was a very good goalkeeper for us so that is a huge loss for us," he said. "Our goalkeeper is TBD. I am excited though — I always love thinking about what is next for a coach. There might be a player who didn't play a lot of minutes last year and they'll come out and have a great season and will shock a lot of people. We'll see how the next couple of days go into next week, but we should have our positions sooner rather than later."
The Jays weren't the only ones in the West Region to lose varsity veterans.
"I think it's more wide open than it's ever been," Altringer said of the WDA. "There's a lot of teams that lost a lot of good seniors last year. Minot lost their crew, Legacy and Mandan who were No. 3 and 4 lost a couple of good seniors, we lost our three seniors so it's going to be interesting to see.
"I think the season in the WDA is going to be what you expect — kind of continuing from last year but you never know because you could get a couple of freshmen coming into the program or people could move in or move out," he said. "There is more parity among the top seeds especially with Minot splitting."
Minot's talent will be divided between the Minot High and Minot North programs. Jamestown's talent will be divided between all four grade levels.
"We have a lot of different leaders in different roles," Altringer said. "Our two seniors, Ellie (Krueger) and Nevaeh (Romfo), play a huge role being our only two seniors. Our junior class ... there are a lot of skilled players in there who could fit in. You have our sophomores and freshmen who will get looks at more varsity minutes. Our team will be a combination of what we have and we won't just be led by 12 seniors like the boys had this year."
In his first two years as head coach, Altringer has helped lead the Jays back to the state tournament. Altringer said now, in his third year, he and his team are not content with simply making it to the state tourney but are looking to end their season as one of the top-three teams in the state.
"I think this group is hungry enough, determined enough and skilled enough to make that change," Altringer said. "We're not happy to just go play a couple games — we want to do well, we want to get top three and one of these days, compete for the top spot in the state.
"There could be a lot of success for this team but a lot of things need to happen and certain pieces of the puzzle need to kind of fit together," he said.
Continue reading...
In the fall, Blue Jay fans watched as a crew of 12 seniors led the Blue Jays to an unbelievable 16-0-0 record. The Jays clinched the No. 1 seed entering the 2024 State Soccer Tournament and were the only team in the state that did not lose or tie during a match.
The Jays wound up going 2-1 at the state tournament to collect a third-place trophy and end the year at 18-1-0.
Now it's time to see what the girls have got in store.
"A lot of our girls have been a part of this program for so long," third-year head coach Colton Altringer said. "Our core group who is playing all year-round has seen a lot of success and has seen what this team could be."
Altringer and the Blue Jay girls began practices on Monday and will open up the season with a home game on April 5 against Bismarck High at 1 p.m.
At 11-3-2 the Jays entered the 2024 NDHSAA State Soccer Tournament as the No. 2 seed out of the West Region. The Jays dropped to Grand Forks Red River in the opening round of the state tourney, defeated Legacy in the consolation semifinal and then dropped 1-0 to Fargo Shanley in the fifth-place game.
"Our numbers are a little healthier this year which is always a bonus," Altringer said. "We have a lot of girls who are returning. Briella Martin is going to be a huge piece for us this year, Layla Becker, both Haley and Hannah Attleson will be big pieces for us."
Becker, a freshman for the Jays, was responsible for scoring a team-high seven goals and four assists for 11 total points in her eighth grade season. Martin was one point behind with six goals and four assists, while Amelia Newman was recorded as having six goals and two assists.
If the underclassmen keep up the strong performances, it will make the loss of Reese Christ, Olivia Sorlie and Sara Sletto a little easier to deal with.
"Those three were very big for our team last year," Altringer said. "Their overall athleticism, the amount of time that they put into the program and how they led by example — they were big pieces that we are going to miss (this year).
"Olivia was a very good goalkeeper for us so that is a huge loss for us," he said. "Our goalkeeper is TBD. I am excited though — I always love thinking about what is next for a coach. There might be a player who didn't play a lot of minutes last year and they'll come out and have a great season and will shock a lot of people. We'll see how the next couple of days go into next week, but we should have our positions sooner rather than later."
The Jays weren't the only ones in the West Region to lose varsity veterans.
"I think it's more wide open than it's ever been," Altringer said of the WDA. "There's a lot of teams that lost a lot of good seniors last year. Minot lost their crew, Legacy and Mandan who were No. 3 and 4 lost a couple of good seniors, we lost our three seniors so it's going to be interesting to see.
"I think the season in the WDA is going to be what you expect — kind of continuing from last year but you never know because you could get a couple of freshmen coming into the program or people could move in or move out," he said. "There is more parity among the top seeds especially with Minot splitting."
Minot's talent will be divided between the Minot High and Minot North programs. Jamestown's talent will be divided between all four grade levels.
"We have a lot of different leaders in different roles," Altringer said. "Our two seniors, Ellie (Krueger) and Nevaeh (Romfo), play a huge role being our only two seniors. Our junior class ... there are a lot of skilled players in there who could fit in. You have our sophomores and freshmen who will get looks at more varsity minutes. Our team will be a combination of what we have and we won't just be led by 12 seniors like the boys had this year."
In his first two years as head coach, Altringer has helped lead the Jays back to the state tournament. Altringer said now, in his third year, he and his team are not content with simply making it to the state tourney but are looking to end their season as one of the top-three teams in the state.
"I think this group is hungry enough, determined enough and skilled enough to make that change," Altringer said. "We're not happy to just go play a couple games — we want to do well, we want to get top three and one of these days, compete for the top spot in the state.
"There could be a lot of success for this team but a lot of things need to happen and certain pieces of the puzzle need to kind of fit together," he said.
Continue reading...
