New coaches for Lyon County soccer

For the first time since 2014, Lyon County will start the season with new coaches guiding the mens and womens soccer teams.

During the summer, new Athletic Director Zach Thomas announced new head coaches Abby Smith and Mike Daily. Both are familiar faces to local soccer fans, and the programs they’re taking over. Both have recently been assistant coaches and Daily has been involved in youth development for several years.

As with any new season, both coaches have a few roster spots left to fill.

The defending Fifth District champions are coming off their best record in recent years at 12-4 in 2018. The team also picked up a win in the All ‘A’ tournament before bowing out to University Heights Academy.

Smith will take over for Emilee Workman, who left to free up time for personal pursuits.

Looking at the roster, this will be one of the most experienced teams the Lady Lyons have fielded in years with 10 upperclassmen. That includes five seniors: Kate Gray, Bailey Guess, MaKenzie Lewis, Emily Smith and Kayden Watts.

“Age-wise, we’re good,” Smith said. “Three of our seniors have played all for four years. Some of those juniors I’ve coached since they were youth league, like U6 and U8. That gives me an idea coming in of their strengths and weaknesses, knowing them since they were little.”

Smith said her overall familiarity with the players makes the transition easier.

“We already know each other and are comfortable,” Smith said. “Having them [as a fourth grade teacher] I know their personalities already. They’ve all had me as a fourth grade science teacher.”

As the girls got underway with a camp following the state-mandated dead period, the familiarity was noticeable. The players refer to her as Miss Abby instead of Coach. Smith said she doesn’t mind.

“Other than Mom, that’s my second favorite name,” Smith said.

Much of what she and Workman put in place will continue over this season. Smith said she doesn’t anticipate many differences, but has already experienced two ACL tears that will prevent a freshman and a sophomore from participating. That may create for mixing up some of the offense and defense.

Lyon will open the season Aug. 13 hosting Hopkins County Central. They’re set to take part in the All ‘A’ Classic on Sept. 3, and head into districts after playing on the road at Muhlenberg County on Oct. 1.

Smith said one of the team’s best virtues isn’t skill with the ball, but instead their ability to lift up each other.

“They’re positive,” Smith said. “They’re not complaining. They’re coming out here at 8 a.m. My girls are coming in happy and smiling. They love what they’re doing.”

Smith attributes the teams 26 rostered players to the good attitudes. She hopes that will carry over to the stands.

“The fans, I want them to go to work this year,” Smith said.

“When we’re doing our player intros, [the fans] need to stand up and clap. These girls are going to be running for two 45 minute halves. They can stand up.

“When they get mad at a ref, cheer on the Lady Lyons. Cheer on our girls even louder. Keep it positive. Negative talk, it feeds into the kids. Every thing those parents do comes through in those kids. If [the parents] get upset, just cheer on our girls a little louder and boost them up.”

Daily may have a bit tougher road ahead of him, despite his long history with Lyon County soccer.

Daily helped start the program in 1992, a year after he formed a traveling team based out of Eddyville. He served as assistant coach previously and has helped with the youth program for several years.

“If we don’t have our youth, we don’t have our high school,” Daily said. “You’ve got to start it down here to have it up there. They’ve got to have the basic fundamentals down.”

Daily said those building blocks are what he’s been working on for about a month. He accepted the position just before the Kentucky High School Athletic Association mandated dead period. With no one working with the Lyons following Derek McCuiston’s arrest and resignation in April, Daily said someone needed to step in.

“We had low numbers,” Daily said. “The guys were kind of in shock from the way things happened. I’ve still got a lot of that now. They were attached to him as a coach. [Derek] was with some of them for three or four years.”

The differences in coaching styles has been an adjustment for the players. Daily said he is trying to implement a team-first mentality.

“Everything is about the team,” Daily said. “We run as a team. You mess up, you don’t get penalized individually, the team does. If you knock a cone over in a drill, the whole team runs.”

The Lyons have been focusing on short drills and situational learning.

“You don’t touch the ball but for a minute, minute and a half a game,” Daily said. “If you dribble a couple times and pass the ball, you’re talking maybe a second. You have to do the most with it. In that little bit of space, if you mess up you may not get another chance.”

Mistakes mounted for the Lyons last season as they finished the season last in the Second Region at 2-18. The team was third from last in goals scored and allowed the most at 129.

This year, Daily said his defense is in good shape, but will be looking for a new goalkeeper headed into their season opener Aug. 12 at Murray after Justin Tabor chose not to return.

Daily said he’s yet to work with a full squad as players are out of town or attending camps.

“I think it’s going well,” Daily said. “We only have one senior. Right now, as far as I know, we have 16 players for [both Junior Varsity and Varsity]. We’ve got our defensive lineman in mind. My biggest worry right now is goalkeeper.

“The good thing is, I’ve got some really fast kinds on the team. Pretty sure I’m going to put Jeremiah Wilkerson in the middle. He likes to rough things up. He’s picked up some speed and he’s smart. Sometimes I think he overthinks things, he tries to be everything on the field.I have a lot of faith in him.”

The team is young with a large number of freshmen coming in. The experience will largely comes from the group of five juniors.

The Lyons graduated Travis Crayne, Jacob Mayberry, Ethan Jackson, Haden Pollard and Trace Adams. Adams was second in scoring last season behind Travis Crayne.

Wilkerson is expected to be the lone senior on the sophmore heavy squad. The Lyons are expected to field seven sophomores at the season’s start.

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem scoring if we can get the ball through the midfield,” Daily said. “It’s win the ball in the middle and keep the other team from scoring more goals than we score.”

Hunter Thomas will serve as the Lyons assistant coach this season. Daily began coaching the sport in 1979. He began playing in college at the University of Illinois at Springfield after a football-related leg injury forced him to reconsider his sport of choice.