Lady Golden Tigers look to build off 2024 soccer season heading into fresh campaign under new coach Guynn

After a winning, double-digit victory campaign last season, the Russellville High School varsity girls’ soccer team is looking forward to another positive year in 2025.

Under the leadership of new head coach Casey Guynn, assisted by Kat Sanchez, the Lady Golden Tigers are optimistic that they have everything to play for this year.

“We’re gonna win the area,” Guynn told the Franklin Free Press confidently.

Moving into a different area this year, Russellville will battle against the likes of Lawrence County and Priceville for the Class 5A Area 15 title, two teams Guynn feels the Lady Golden Tigers hold an edge over.

“We do very well against Lawrence County, and I’ve looked at Priceville—looked at their win-loss record and scouted out their previous areas and previous wins. I think we can beat Priceville, for sure,” she said “I fully expect an area championship.”

Chasing that season-long goal of a first area crown since the 2022 season, Guynn, a former high school soccer player herself, said a big strength for this team are its passing and communication skills.

“None of the teams I’ve been on have been able to pass and to communicate as well as these girls have been able to do that,” Guynn said. “I’m constantly telling them they’ve got it, they can do it; they’ve just gotta get out of their heads that they can’t and they’ve just gotta keep pushing.

“Their communication is phenomenal. They can pass with each other, communicate with each other and they anticipate each other,” she added. “So, I think we’re ready.”

One area Russellville has been focused on is shooting. The Lady Golden Tigers have to replace their two leading goal-scorers from last season, graduates Nadia Mendez and Ermelina Ponce, who accounted for nearly half of Russellville’s goals last season.

To put the ball in the back of the net this year, Guynn said, the Lady Golden Tigers will be looking to senior Emily Martinez, junior Kimberly Mojica, and sophomore Maricela Jose Andres, who tallied four goals as a freshman last season. But RHS has been working to prepare every player for their chance on goal when it arrives.

“What we work on the most is passing the ball and getting as close to the goal and then taking shots and following through,” Guynn said.

“The past three days (of practice) has been taking tons of shots—everybody,” she added. “Even defenders have been out taking shots because that’s only gonna help with their goal kicks, so just working on putting more shots on goal.”

Russellville also feels good about its defense, which will be anchored by senior Jessenia Mateo as sweeper—almost like a defensive midfielder that sits behind the back line and fulfills roles in both defense and attack.

“(Mateo) will hang out in the back and mainly play defense but she can move up as needed,” Guynn said. “She told me she’s a defender, to me she looks like a striker. She’s mostly gonna play as a defender, but I asked her to trust me; she can come up to the midfield and turn to offense as needed. She’s a really good communicator at the back and she runs that defense, but she’ll move up for me to play offense, as well.”

The Lady Golden Tigers also have decent depth. While still fairly young—there are six seniors on this year’s roster—Guynn knows she has a deep bench to pull from.

“It’s a building year, but I’ve got plenty of subs. I’ve got enough subs for my strikers, enough subs for my midfielders, enough subs for my defenders—so if needed, I’ve got them,” she said. “I’ve got 18 on the varsity roster and 22 on the JV roster, and there’s some girls on the JV that I can move up to varsity, absolutely.”

No matter who’s on the pitch for Russellville this season, they are sure to get valuable playing time and improve considering the teams RHS has on the schedule this season. The Lady Golden Tigers, amidst the all-important area matches, will face some tough non-area opponents like Jasper, Florence, Mars Hill, and Hartselle. Those games, Guynn said, will only help the Lady Golden Tigers in their push to the postseason.

“We play some good teams and against teams like that, the more time we spend on the field together the better they’re gonna be,” the first-year Russellville head coach said. “The more time we spend together the better their communication is gonna be, the better their connection with each other, their chemistry, their appreciation of each other, and I just anticipate they’re gonna get better and better the longer they’re playing together this year.”