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The Camdenton Lady Lakers soccer team is trying to live up to its lofty preseason expections without one of its brightest stars.
The Lady Lakers lost their leading scorer from last season before the new campaign even began. Senior midfielder Latea LaRue injured her ACL playing in the high school basketball district playoffs.
"I was going up for a layup, my knee gave out on me, and I heard a pop," LaRue recalled.
The pop signified the end of LaRue's hope of an outstanding senior year on the soccer field.
"I don't think I can explain how frustrating it is to sit and watch whenever I have played with these girls for a really long time, but at the same time I need to be able to support them even though I am on the bench," LaRue said.
As a junior, LaRue scored 26 goals in 24 games to help lead Camdenton to an 18-6 overall record. She recorded hat tricks against Joplin, Parkview, Hillcrest, and Stover. Statistics aside, LaRue served as a dominant playmaker with intangible on-field leadership.
"We miss everything about Latea LaRue, but she's been a real trooper during this whole thing and she is working really hard to keep her spirits up and to keep the team focused," Camdenton coach J.D. Hunter said.
With his top scorer on the sidelines in a bulky knee brace, Hunter offered his senior captain some off-field responsibilities.
"Hunter knows me so well that he knows I have to be doing something or I'll go crazy, so he handed me the score book," LaRue said.
"She is always over there yammering," Hunter laughed. "She is still such a huge part of this team."
With LaRue adjusting to being a team captain on the sidelines, the Lady Lakers' coaching staff set out to find a new center midfielder. A carousel of potential replacements seems to have stopped on senior Chelsi Libby, who also wears a captain's arm band and previously played on the wing.
"All of the assistant coaches got together during the Jefferson City match and suggested that we move Libby over. It's really paid off, she's really starting to find a home there, and it's something we're excited about," Hunter said.
"It's a lot different than I am used to, it's a lot more involvement; I feel like I am a lot more involved in the game and I like it," Libby said.
The Camdenton Lady Lakers soccer team is trying to live up to its lofty preseason expections without one of its brightest stars.
The Lady Lakers lost their leading scorer from last season before the new campaign even began. Senior midfielder Latea LaRue injured her ACL playing in the high school basketball district playoffs.
"I was going up for a layup, my knee gave out on me, and I heard a pop," LaRue recalled.
The pop signified the end of LaRue's hope of an outstanding senior year on the soccer field.
"I don't think I can explain how frustrating it is to sit and watch whenever I have played with these girls for a really long time, but at the same time I need to be able to support them even though I am on the bench," LaRue said.
As a junior, LaRue scored 26 goals in 24 games to help lead Camdenton to an 18-6 overall record. She recorded hat tricks against Joplin, Parkview, Hillcrest, and Stover. Statistics aside, LaRue served as a dominant playmaker with intangible on-field leadership.
"We miss everything about Latea LaRue, but she's been a real trooper during this whole thing and she is working really hard to keep her spirits up and to keep the team focused," Camdenton coach J.D. Hunter said.
With his top scorer on the sidelines in a bulky knee brace, Hunter offered his senior captain some off-field responsibilities.
"Hunter knows me so well that he knows I have to be doing something or I'll go crazy, so he handed me the score book," LaRue said.
"She is always over there yammering," Hunter laughed. "She is still such a huge part of this team."
With LaRue adjusting to being a team captain on the sidelines, the Lady Lakers' coaching staff set out to find a new center midfielder. A carousel of potential replacements seems to have stopped on senior Chelsi Libby, who also wears a captain's arm band and previously played on the wing.
"All of the assistant coaches got together during the Jefferson City match and suggested that we move Libby over. It's really paid off, she's really starting to find a home there, and it's something we're excited about," Hunter said.
"It's a lot different than I am used to, it's a lot more involvement; I feel like I am a lot more involved in the game and I like it," Libby said.
Libby gets plenty of coaching from LaRue to help her through the change.
"Chelsi Libby, seriously, went into the center of the field not knowing what she was doing. Chelsey VanHook helped her out, and so if we just keep talking to each other and helping each other out throughout the whole season than we will do just fine," LaRue said.
Libby finds herself in the middle of a midfield that includes VanHook at center back with junior Haley Baker and senior Jessica Smith starting games on the wings. In spite of LaRue's injury and the lineup shuffle, Hunter believes his club can still live up to the expectations set out for it in the preseason.
"We knew coming in that we had some potential and ability, and Latea was a big key to that, but we also had other players that were ready to step up too. Do we miss her? Of course we do, but we've got to move on and I think some people are filling some voids and we are getting better," Hunter said.
"We're bonding better now. We need to bring ourselves together. We're trying a lot of different things," Libby said.
Though her time as a player for Camdenton is likely over, LaRue still has a future in soccer. She plans to attend Missouri Southern State University and begin playing for the Lions in 2011. LaRue will redshirt her first year.
"It will help me to know what college is like and help me experience it before I actually have to play, so it will go great," LaRue said.
Once she is healthy, LaRue should be a welcome addition to the MSSU soccer team. The Lions will need her scoring ability after a 5-15 season in the fall of 2009 when they were held scoreless for seven consecutive games during an eight-game losing streak.
