In their inaugural season, the Marietta High School Lady Indians’ soccer team began play last week at Ada. During their first two seasons, the team will not be eligible for district play, and – it could be argued – their seasons really don’t “count.” But don’t tell that to the 13 student athletes on the team.
Winning does count to them, and after being defeated last week at Ada 9-0, the Lady Indians came back home, hit the practice field, and made some adjustments. They went to Madill for their second game on Monday, March 11, and the outcome was a different story.
“These girls are improving from week to week,” said Head Coach Ryan Keeton. “It shows how far they’ve come in just a week that they went out and beat Madill, an established program, in just their second game.”
The girls, down 1-0 at the half, were willing to listen to their coaches and make some changes in their play.
“We came back to score two goals in the second half and win the game – the first win ever for Marietta soccer,” said Keeton, “and that is big for our program and for these girls.”
Both goals were scored by senior Crystal Castaneda, who is joined on the roster by Blanca Salazar, Jariah Sutherland, Jazmin Sanchez, Abigail Garcia, Yulisa Gonzalez, Julissa Sanchez, Erika Delgado, Zharik Ochoa-Salazar, Daisy Sandoval-Hernandez, Yadria Flores-Sanchez, Diana Salas, and Madison Billy. They are coached by Keeton, assisted by Alex Doby, Maverick McClendon, and Ashley Monterrosa.
“These girls are showing up every day, working their butts off, and they’re getting better all the time. For them to beat a team like Madill that’s been playing soccer for years, it’s impressive, and the sky is the limit for them if they keep improving,” explained Keeton.
But no matter how the rest of the season goes, this team has made history.
“Crystal was the first player to score in Marietta history and the team was the first to win a game,” Keeton stated. “No one else will ever be able to say that, and no one can ever take that from them.”