The Powell Middle School girls’ soccer team finished with an impressive record, as the Cubs went 6-1-1 during their quick spring season.

The Cubs started their season with an impressive start, winning games against Worland, Riverton and Rawlins to start 3-0.

Powell then faced one of its more challenging opponents, finishing with a 1-1 draw against Lander at home.

The Cubs then earned another trio of wins, defeating Worland again followed by Buffalo and Riverton. Powell then faced Lander on the road to end the year, but fell in the final game of the year to finish 6-1-1.

Leading the way up top for the girls was Maddy Agee, who broke the school record for goals in a season with 25, also setting the record for goals in a single game with five.

Supplying the assists for those goals was midfielder Aspen French, who did plenty of scoring herself but added 10 assists to lead the team, finishing with 19 assists over her two year career as a Cub.

Coach Stan Hedges said another player in the midfield with a number of goals and assists was Charlie Taylor.

“The entire team was strong. From having Maddy up front, our midfielders: Aspen, Charlie, Raeanne Jackson and Avery Love. Our offense was stacked and you could expect a goal from any one of them,” Hedges said.

They also had a strong defense behind them, anchored by Reagan Clifford in goal who had 60 saves this season, which was a team record.

“Our defense was also very strong with Aubrey Blount playing the defensive mid position as a support for the midfielders,” Hedges said. “Our strong points were the center defense consisting of Stella Leighton and Hadley Gutierrez. They were a strong anchor of our defense and very rarely let anything through.”

In addition to strong players throughout the team, Hedges said there were some players who showed significant improvement throughout the season, particularly Aubrey Blount and Abigail Dyke, who Hedges said showed some of the most improvement, particularly in games.

“They were the biggest surprises for me,” Hedges said. “During practice I saw potential, but in the games, they stepped up and did some amazing things.”

He added that some other players showing signs of improvement were Neveah Andrews, Mae Gilliatt and Kaylee Ross.

“Those girls had some tremendous gains,” Hedges said.

He said that moving forward, the program will need to replace the midfield in particular, but should be able to do that with the incoming seventh grade class next year while he believes this eighth grade class can do big things at the high school level.

“Our midfield area will be missing some really good players and how to fill those (shoes) will come in the form of next year’s seventh graders,” Hedges said. “We always need to work on moving the ball around well, but overall these girls are very experienced and just need a little coaching and encouragement and they play very well.”

He said that overall the team made an impact with its school records and its performance.

“I think the whole season was memorable,” Hedges said. “This was the first time we were looking at a conference championship and feeling like we had made a statement for youth soccer.”

He said the team in particular performed well thanks to their prior experience on the field outside of school.

Hedges added that one of the best moments of the season was when the team trailed by a goal and came back to win.

“They worked hard, hustled and communicated well,” Hedges said. “I am very proud of them.”

The middle school will say goodbye to a number of talented players from this year’s program, sending them to the high school to join a team that just finished runner-up at the state championship in Gillette.

“I think the high school will have very talented freshmen to fill the voids left by this year’s seniors,” Hedges said. “I feel with the talent they have coming up, playing with the amazing girls on the team this year, they will win a state championship, if not two in the next three years.”

He said he was honored to coach this group of girls, and with the talent and work ethic they have, that coaching is easy.