CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – West Creek girl’s soccer has began their season with an overall record of 5-1. After losing in overtime against Clarksville High to open their season, the Coyotes have won five games in a row.
During those five games, West Creek outscored opponents 35-2. Part of their success is thanks their star striker Madison Bennett, who led the country in goals scored at the beginning of the week. She has a total of 23 goals and only needed six games to do it.
Max Preps shows Bennett ranked second behind Karson Long of East Hickman County, but the website confirmed they input the wrong data. In actuality, Max Preps included Long’s preseason goals as well, which brought her total down to 22 on the year, just behind Bennett.
West Creek Coach Andrew Smith said Bennett already surpassed her goals scored from last season, 19. Also, she’s on pace to break the record for goals scored in a season for the West Creek program, 26.
“Madison has incredible foot skills,” said Smith. “She’s a master when it comes to feint changes of direction, and that allows her to have more control of the ball. It helps that she has a tremendous left foot even though she’s right-footed. This skillset allows her to attack either direction.
“One thing she really worked on before the season was her patience. As an example, Clarksville High defended Madison really well during our first game, but she waited for them to make a mistake. Her patience led to a hat trick performance.”
Coach’s corner
Smith acknowledged Bennett isn’t the only one on pace to break program records this season. Midfielder Dahlianney “Dahli” Auguste leads the team with eight assists. This puts the senior on pace to not only break the record for assists in a season, but assists in a career as well.
“Throughout her time with the program, Dahli has always had a great defensive presence ,” said Smith. “She also has great mental toughness and can kick the ball a half mile down the field.
“But she worked all summer on conditioning, and you can tell the difference with how much faster she’s become. That’s one area opponents are having trouble accounting for with our team. In terms of leadership, Dahli has always been a team player, and has been the backbone of everything we do.
“She loves looking for Madison in the open field. Dahli can play the ball long and trust Madison to go get it with her speed. It’s one of those things where our team is selfless, but we’re still trying to involve others to make our offense even more diverse.”
What’s next
The West Creek girl’s soccer team is coming off a playoff run where they finished runner-up in district play, and lost the opening round of regionals.
Their goal as a team is to return to the postseason and build on what they accomplished the year prior.