| Westview’s Vincent selected to Class A-AA all-state soccer team | | Posted: Friday, December 28, 2012 12:00 pm
| By RANDY CAVIN
Press Sports
It took some time for Makenzie Vincent to become a team leader but, once she did, she became the heart and soul of the Westview girls’ soccer team.
She has won four awards in her senior year and now can add her fifth to the list. Vincent has been selected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Class A-AA All-State soccer team as a defender for her play as a goalkeeper.
Vincent’s other awards for the 2012 season are: All-Region 7A-AA, All –Region Tournament, Westview team MVP as voted on by the players and coaches and she was selected to an All-West Tennessee team.
Vincent is the first Lady Charger to be selected to the TSWA All-State soccer team.
“This is a great honor for Makenzie,” head coach Matt Cupples said. “I have looked back, and this is a first for the girls. The thing about Makenzie is that she is a good enough athlete that she could play the field if we needed her to.”
With Vincent guarding the goal, the Lady Chargers went 15-5-1 this past season. In the two years she has been a starter, the Lady Chargers were 31-9-1 with a 4-4 post season record and two appearances in the sub-state.
“She probably would have started all four years if not for her sister being a starter during her freshman and sophomore years,” Cupples said.
Westview’s offense did not put up numbers this past season like they normally do, so the Lady Chargers had to rely heavily on their defense. Vincent was the heartbeat of that defense because she was the last line of the defense as keeper.
Vincent had 165 saves in 1,475 minutes guarding the net. With her in goal, the Lady Chargers were able to collect seven shutouts this past season. Vincent accumulated 309 saves in her two seasons as a starter.
“This year, it was more of Makenzie trying to step up and be more of a leader,” Cupples said. “She did a really great job.”
The Westview coach said the when he first became coach during Vincent’s sophomore year, she only played in two games. He now wishes he could have found a spot for her on the field.
“She played maybe two games and that is because of her sister, Macey, being here,” Cupples said. “Looking back, I am thinking I could have found a spot for her and I probably should have. Now that I’ve seen her play her junior year and especially this year she has stepped up big time and played huge minutes for us.”
Two games this season Vincent really stepped up. Against Jackson Christian School, she had 22 saves and then 20 in a game against Dyersburg. Cupples said Vincent will be leaving some big shoes to fill, and her replacement will probably be Alex Crosser.
Cupples wasn’t always sure if Vincent would become the leader that she turned out to be. He said when he first became coach, the first thing he noticed about her was her quietness. He said when people first meet her that she is not real talkative. He believes to be a leader on a team, a person should be vocal.
“I did not know how to take Makenzie because she was so shy,” Cupples said. “I would try to get some answers from her or joke around with the other girls to see what kind of players I had. I was not getting anything out of Makenzie. I told my assistant coaches, ‘I do not know. I think she could be good, but if she does not talk, how is she going to be a leader.’
“We were out there one day at practice, and she’s just barely going through the motions. I called her over and talked to her. I said, ‘Do you want to play soccer?’ She said, ‘Uh, yeah.’ I said that was not very confident and that she was going to have to be our leader in the next couple years.”
After Cupples had his little discussion with Vincent, she was the first one to every practice and stayed late to help out in any way she could with some girls to work on their game.
“She showed through her actions how much she wanted to be part of the team,” Cupples said. “That carried over into the game. She started to succeed in the game, and that came out of practice. So girls look up to her. It is funny to say how I looked back and wondered how committed is she going to be. Now I look at her and she is winning all of these awards.”
Vincent has no soccer plans in her future. She is planning on going to college, either at Middle Tennessee State or at UT Martin. Cupples said she is a great cook and has an interest in fashion design, but does not know if either is a direction she will go.
He would like for her to attend college at UTM so she could come out to the soccer field and help him out with the team.
“I would love for her to stick around and come out and help,” Cupples said. “She is a real big person when it comes to motivating and leading. So coaching would be something she could get into. I do not know if it is something she wants to do. She could succeed in a lot of different areas in life.”
Published in The WCP 12.27.12 | | | | |
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