As a freshman, Summer Lanter missed summer workouts and never was able to get comfortable within the Soddy-Daisy girls’ soccer attack.
As a sophomore this year, she made it to workouts and now causes headaches.
Lanter and junior forward Hannah Wyatt have formed a top-notch duo up front that has put the Lady Trojans in the hunt for not only a District 5-AAA championship but possibly some state honors as well.
Wyatt, a first-team Best of Preps selection last season, has swelled her assist total with Lanter’s maturation. After six assists in 2009, Wyatt has 17 this year, along with 17 goals.
Lanter leads the area with 23 goals and has nine assists. After a first-round bye, Soddy-Daisy will get its first postseason matchup Tuesday, when it hosts Ooltewah in the district semifinals.
“Summer does a great job of getting into space and makes it easier to get the ball through, which has created some assists,” Wyatt said. “I definitely felt like we didn’t connect last year, but this year we want more. We’ve worked a whole lot in practice on our 1-2s and getting into space.
“We’re a year older and we realize that this year is going to be gone soon.”
Said Lanter: “Last year, I just felt like it wasn’t my team. I guess it was part of being a freshman – I was afraid of messing up – but this year I think we’ve worked together great.
“We get along and work well together.”
The result is a 16-0-2 regular-season record and a rise to third in the Class AAA state rankings and sixth overall. Soddy-Daisy is one of only two teams in the state – top-ranked Baylor being the other – without a loss thus far, but the girls noted that coach Moises Drumond has done a good job of keeping the team grounded despite all of their success.
“He’s always trying to humble us,” Lanter said. “He tells us that every game could go either way, and that whoever shows up will win.”
Wyatt’s first two seasons have yielded losses in the sectional round, after the Lady Trojans advanced to state in 2007.
“We just know that Soddy-Daisy has a lot to prove,” she said. “We’ve been to sub-state and had our seasons ended there the past two years. We can have this great record and all, but we have to prove we can take the next step, because if we don’t, what did this year mean?
“It wouldn’t have meant much unless we do.”
* In District 7-A/AA, Sequatchie County has decided to forfeit its semifinal game to Notre Dame, so the Lady Irish will advance automatically to Thursday’s final against the winner between Chattanooga Christian and Signal Mountain.
DISTRICT TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Monday
District 5-A/AA
Sequoyah at Silverdale Baptist, 6
Tuesday
District 5-A/AA
Sequoyah/Silverdale winner at McMinn Central, 5
Grace/Sweetwater winner at Boyd-Buchanan, 7
District 6-A/AA
East Ridge/Red Bank winner vs. East Hamilton at Redoubt, 7
Hixson at Arts & Sciences, 7
District 7-A/AA
Chattanooga Christian at Signal Mountain, 7
District 5-AAA
Walker Valley/McMinn County winner vs. Cleveland at Cleveland Soccer Complex, 7
Ooltewah at Soddy-Daisy, 7
Thursday
District 5-A/AA championship
District 6-A/AA championship
District 7-A/AA championship
District 5-AAA championship