WHITEFISH — With one of the youngest teams that Whitefish girls soccer has ever fielded, the Bulldogs are looking to keep up their winning tradition in hopes of hanging another state championship banner.
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With a hot start, it looks like business as usual for the Bulldogs as they set their sights on being on top of the Class A North division by the end of the regular season.
However, according to senior Taylor Dorvall, the team has a much different feel to it this year, with most of the production coming from younger players.
“We're a very young team, we've got eight freshmen, but every single one of them has proved their spot,” Dorvall said. “We have just become a really good family this year, and I think it's setting us up really well for the playoffs.”
A family-like culture was a point of emphasis this year for second-year coach Kelly Ordway, whose main goal is to establish great chemistry on and off the field to build a championship-caliber team.
Luckily for Ordway, her players have a similar goal in mind.
“I asked the team individually if they would give me some information at the beginning of the season, what are your goals personally, and what's your goal as a team, and almost everybody said their team goal was to feel connected,” Ordway said. “Which I think is one of the most important parts because we can play better when we just feel that as a cohesive team.”
Even with such a young team, there are still players who were part of the Bulldogs’ previous state championship in 2023.
With that experience in mind, and although it’s a completely different group, there are similarities between the two teams.
“I recognize a lot of the same feelings that I had as a sophomore,” Schmidt said. “With the fire and the determination and the focus and practices and on play. For many of the other players on the team, I recognize a lot of the same feeling.”
