EGELSTON TWP. – If the Oakridge girls soccer team has success this season, it will probably be because senior Saidee Raap has a lot more big games.
Raap, an intense, physical athlete, has scored 15 goals and assisted on four other others so far this season, which is impressive on its own.
However, the Eagles, who are 4-7 overall and 3-1 in West Michigan Conference play, have only scored 25 goals all season.
That means Raap has accounted for 76 percent of the scoring for the Oakridge soccer team.
When she scores, the Eagles are typically in the game.
[1]“She’s about as dynamic as they come,” said Oakridge head coach Greg Fleener about Raap. “For much of the year, we’ll probably ride her coattails. It takes us getting the ball to her to be successful.”
Raap has enjoyed her hot start to the season, and says it’s the result of the offseason work she puts it.
“It just feels like all my work has paid off,” she said. “You can see the outcomes of it, especially with it being my senior year. My team helps me set up the goals and it feels like it’s really been working.”
It was more than working on April 12 when Raap scored four goals in an 8-0 victory over Mason County Central. Then she outdid herself seven days later when she scored five goals in a 7-1 victory over Hart.
[2]“It’s been a surprise to me,” Raap said about the big games. “Really, my partner in scoring last year graduated, so I didn’t think I’d be as successful as I’ve been. But my team has stepped up and we’ve all worked together. It’s surprising but really fun.”
Fleener says the team needed Raap to step up this season after the graduation of McKenzie Swarts.
“She (Raap) didn’t lead the team last year, McKenzie Swartz led the team in scoring,” the coach said. “It was cool to watch them together. Swartz was a leader and team captain and led us in goals every year. I needed someone to take over that mantle and Saidee has.”
One aspect of leadership that Raap has worked on is becoming more of a positive influence for her teammates.
[3]“I’ve really made it a point to be more positive,” she said. “Sometimes I get in my own head. Me getting into my own head and having a negative attitude affects others. It’s been a personal goal to be more positive. I want to try and be positive, even if we’re losing or I have a bad touch.”
That mindset has allowed teammates to more comfortable around the talented scorer, according to Fleener.
“She’s a pretty bold individual,” the coach said about Raap. “She commands some respect with who she is. We had girls come into the program that were scared of her. But she’s great. I think I have six sophomores on the roster and most of last year, they were scared to death of her. Now, they have a great relationship with her, and watching that growth has been fun.”
Raap is hopeful that she leaves the same leadership imprint on the underclassmen that older players left on her.
“It means a lot to be a leader,” she said. ”I remember when I was a freshman, we had five seniors on varsity and they were all very welcoming. It made me more comfortable. The seniors I was around made me play better. I know what it’s like to be anxious as an underclassman. It feels like I have that responsibility to be welcoming and someone they can look up to. We work better as a team.”
[4]