Iron Horse girls’ soccer opens undefeated in region, looks to repeat

The Philip Simmons High School girls’ soccer team was ranked the No. 10 team in the Class AAA preseason poll.

 

That’s an accomplishment in itself because the Iron Horses lost some talented players from the 2022 team that was crowned the Region 6-AA champs while reaching the third round of the playoffs. 

 

This spring, the Iron Horses opened the season with five victories in seven games and were 2-0 in Region 8-AAA play.

 

“We had a good season last year, but we lost some key seniors,” coach Ed Liebe said. “But we should be as good as or better than we were last year.”

 

The Iron Horses’ two losses this spring were close encounters. They dropped a heartbreaker to Bishop England and let a first-half lead slip away in a setback to Ashley Ridge. Other than the two stumbles, the Iron Horses have been dominant, outscoring foes 26-8 this

spring.

 

The team lost talent to graduation. But Liebe has developed depth, and there’s still a heavy dose of skill on this team that features five seniors and six juniors on the roster of 19 players.

 

Claire Esse is on top of the list of talented players. She’s earned a scholarship to UNC Greensboro. She’s also earned all-state status in her three years on the varsity squad. She’s off to a good start to make it 4-for-4 with eight goals and four assists in the first seven games.

 

Esse shines in the classroom as well with a 4.85 GPA on a weighted scale. She will major in business with a minor in architecture. She earned an UNCG Bryan School Business scholarship, given to only 25 students out of 600 applications.

 

“Claire is a special player,” Liebe said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

 

Esse is one of five seniors on the roster. The other seniors include Morgan Davis, Micaela Hughes, Alexandra Jannuzzi and Emma Stacey.

 

Two juniors have made big contributions this spring. Tess Neary had three goals and five assists in seven games. Lizzie Hamlin, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, has been solid. Hamlin was cleared to play by doctors just in time for the start of the season and has tallied five goals and an assist.

 

“Tess Neary is a very dangerous player,” Liebe said. “She’s doing really well while Lizzie has worked very hard to regain her form. It was a lot of work.”

 

The team also features Davis and junior Riley Jenkins, who earned all-region honors last spring. 

 

Liebe is in his second year as the head coach. He had about three decades of coaching experience in New Jersey and Maryland.

 

He’s growing the program. In the school’s first year, Philip Simmons fielded a co-ed team. The next year, the school fielded a girls’ junior varsity team. In 2020, the Iron Horses opened with a 3-0 record, outscoring foes 29-0. But the season was shut down by the pandemic.

 

The team was 11-4 the year before Liebe arrived on campus, and were 11-7-1 last spring.