After a strong debut campaign with Coach Ryan Gerfers at the helm, the Princeton Lady Panthers have high expectations coming into this winter. A year ago, the soccer girls finished third in the district, thanks in part to a six-game stretch that saw them win four games.

That helped them reach the postseason for the first time since 2020. It was a blessing for a program that had a lot of young faces on their roster.

With so many players that saw significant time returning, Coach Gerfers believes this group can carry that success over to this season.

“We are looking to build off of the success we had last year,” Coach Gerfers said. “Last year was my first as head coach and we were coming off a few years of being down. We made a nice run in district and made the playoffs for the first time in several years. We want to build on that. Obviously, we’d like to make the playoffs again and make a run. It’s going to be hard, but that’s the goal for us this year.”

A year ago, the top priority on Coach Gerfers’ agenda had less to do with soccer and more to do with the mindset of his players. Simply pushing the girls to believe they could compete with anyone was something he felt made a big difference in their success.

That is a culture he expects to become the norm moving forward. Coming into the season, Gerfers wants to see the confidence and competitive nature his girls played with a year ago to help them make that late run. 

“We want to continue to grow with the culture we put in place last year,” he said. “That was a big steppingstone for us. Getting that winning mentality back. As far as the talent goes, I think we have the talent to get where we want to but keeping that culture from a year ago will be big.”

The foundation of any great program often starts with implementing a winning culture. Still, Coach Gerfers will really get the idea of whether his team is ready to take the next step based on a tough non-district schedule.

A year ago, Princeton won just two games prior to opening their district slate. The goal is to be more competitive against some of those early opponents to help build even more confidence by the end of the month when they open district play.

“One thing we would like to be better at is getting some tougher wins,” Coach Gerfers said. “That’s a goal for us this year. We want to get some wins against some of the tougher opponents we face. With the culture we established a year ago, that would be the next step is beating some of those really good opponents.”

A big reason Coach Gerfers believes this team can make the jump in year two stems from the experience returning from last season’s roster. The Lady Panthers have a lot of talent coming back.

That starts with a handful of seniors that have seen the good and bad over the last three years. Two of that group will be expected to carry the torch for Princeton this winter, while a big group of juniors should also help matters.

“We’ve got four captains that has been on varsity since they were freshmen,” Coach Gerfers said. “My two senior captains are Tiffany Urenda and Emily Bautista. They are both phenomenal players and human beings on and off the field. We will lean on them heavily.”

“I’ve got two junior captains as well,” he added. “Kelsey Lefever is one of those players that every team wishes they had. She is a great player and, in the classroom, I think she is top 10 in her class too. My daughter, Isabella Gerfers, is in her third year on varsity too. She has played high level club ball, and we are going to be looking at her in a new position this year to help the team. She knows what needs to be done to have success.”

Gerfers will be moving to forward after spending most of her life as a goalkeeper. Still, it’s a move that could benefit the team in more ways than one. Not only could she offer some more scoring punch to the lineup, but it also opens the door for another talented junior.

“Another player we will be leaning on heavily is Delaney Murphy,” Coach Gerfers said. “She is our goalie, and this will be her first year as the starter on varsity. She has big shoes to fill, but I think she is going to be a game-changer for us.”

It would seem all the pieces are in place for Princeton to build on last year’s success. The girls dropped their opening match of the year to Mt. Pleasant prior to Christmas Break. Still, they’ve had plenty of time to continue to prepare for the busiest part of the schedule.

The Lady Panthers will compete in their home-opener this Friday, Jan. 5 with Frisco Emerson in town. From there, will host Frisco Liberty the following week, before putting on their annual Princeton Cup Showcase from Jan 11-13.

By Austin Smith • [email protected]

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