Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Champion’s Taylor Kuhn (13) handles the ball while being defended by Springfield’s Ava Vecchione (22) during a matchup last week.
Sitting at 13-0-0 as they enter the October portion of their schedule, the Champion Golden Flashes are on a fantastic run.
Surrendering just eight goals so far this season, Champion is poised to make a deep run come tournament time. With senior captain Taylor Kuhn breaking a trio of records in her final high school campaign, the Flashes are aiming to get back to the district title game, which they went to in Kuhn’s freshman season, but this time go even further.
“Our defense has really been holding it down back there with senior captain Mia Nadaud,” head coach Emily Metheny said. “Taylor has broken three career (school) records — goals, assists, and points — and is doing excellent up top. Our goal differential is huge right now. Really we’ve just been coming together, staying positive as a team, keeping the high expectations and sticking together as a family and rallying around one another.”
Kuhn has amassed an astounding 35-goal total so far this season, averaging a near-hat trick. She set the goals record earlier against Garfield in a 9-0 victory in which she had five goals.
While obviously excited about the milestone, there’s a sense of relief that comes with it as well.
“Now I can finally just enjoy my game and not have to think about it in the back of my head like ‘Oh, just one more goal, a few more points,’ all that stuff,” Kuhn said. “It’s nice getting to enjoy my team and getting the wins and stuff (instead of thinking about the individual accolades).”
And Champion has had plenty to celebrate.
The Flashes have a dominant offense, with Grayson Knoske (24) and Maylee Nadaud (16) each also potting goals in the double-figure mark.
But it’s not just the on-field successes that are worth celebrating. Champion has an infectious energy that has only helped in their results.
“They’re hard-working. They’re dedicated not only to academics, but also to their athletics, as you can see out there,” Metheny said. “They’re silly. They bring energy no matter what the condition is, even on rainy days. They’re still excited to be here, just to be with one another. They really look at this as a family. They get together outside of practice, they find anyway just to be with one another and they’re smart, intelligent and really caring girls.”
Champion has had a “never back down” attitude this whole season and there’s been multiple moments that exemplified that this season. Whether it was scoring the go-ahead goal with 0.6 seconds left in the first half against Kennedy in the season-opener or taking a gut punch from Springfield and returning it in kind, the Flashes always seem to find a way to stomp out the adversity and return the favor.
“They have a drive, this group of girls,” Metheny said. “You can just see within them that they have a burning fire. They’re hungry. They want to come out and really just prove to everybody what Champion soccer is.”
Whenever there’s an opportunity to take advantage of, Champion is there. Just recently, the Flashes survived a scare against Springfield, where a 2-0 lead became a 2-2 deadlock in a three-minute span, just to win the game 8-2. Champion picks apart its opposition the first chance it gets.
“I think that as a team, we always talk about never wanting to waste anything because you never know what’s going to happen,” Nadaud said. “Every second is an opportunity to make a change in the game.”
Their next opportunity to do that is on Monday, as the Flashes host Waterloo in another league contest.
With eight seniors on the roster including Kuhn, this team is more motivated than ever.
“I’m so honored to be able to coach this group of girls,” Metheny said about her seniors. “I have been with this program now for five years, so it’s really exciting. It’s impressive. We’ve been to the district championship when they were freshmen, these seniors now, so obviously the expectation is to get back there with this group and it’s an honor. These girls are amazing on the field and in the classroom. It’s a special group of girls.”
That district final loss to South Range in 2020 is long in the rear view, and is something the team has learned from. For a team that doesn’t want to waste opportunities, this is a moment that they don’t plan on passing up on.
byauger@tribtoday.com
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