MONMOUTH — In hindsight, it seems a bit ludicrous that Monmouth once wondered whether it would have enough firepower this fall.

Any team that graduates a scoring stalwart such as Kylie Kemp is bound to experience a bit of anxiety over who will pick up the slack. Coach Gary Trafton thought there was potential with Haley Fletcher coming off a strong freshman season and some other promising young talent ready to emerge. But tweaking the lineup with players who hadn’t ever been asked to spark a varsity offense still left a lot of questions when the season began.

The only question now is who can stop the Mustangs, who will head into the final week of the regular season unbeaten and boasting one of the most prolific offenses in Class C.

“I think we were maybe just a little concerned because we didn’t have Kylie, who scored most of our goals last year. But we’ve figured out what we needed to do,” Fletcher said.

“Coming into the season, we knew we had a lot of talent. It was just finding how our team would click together,” junior forward Sydney Wilson said.

The Mustangs (11-0-1) have clicked from the start, averaging 5.6 goals per game. Fletcher leads the way with 28. Wilson, a converted fullback, has become a force at the other forward spot, scoring 20 goals.

Fletcher was born with a scorer’s instincts. Trafton was confident that, with a year of varsity under her belt, the sister of Kyle Fletcher, the school’s all-time leading scorer, and daughter of Monmouth boys coach Joe Fletcher, would be ready to go to the net.

“She got stronger this year and her skills have certainly improved from last year,” Trafton said. “I knew I had one person that could put the ball in the net.

It’s easy to say now, of course, but Fletcher said she wasn’t worried about whether she would have help in the scoring department this year. What she wasn’t expecting was for Wilson and other teammates to keep so much of the weight off her shoulders.

“I didn’t think I’d have as many goals as I do now, but the chances just happen,” said Fletcher, who said her brother has challenged her to go after his record (91 career goals). “It’s easier with two people that can score. You don’t feel pressure that you have to score.”

Trafton moved Wilson to forward because he knew he had the needed reinforcements on defense. Wilson, who played midfield in middle school, wasted no time developing a scorer’s mentality. Her skill set is still catching up, though.

“I’ve had to learn a lot. I’ve had to work more on my footwork,” Wilson said.

Trafton said the key to Wilson’s development is she isn’t making the same mistake twice.

“She’s learning as the season goes on,” Trafton said. “To be a good scorer, you’ve got to be there. You’ve got to work at it. She’s a fast learner and she does have nice touches, and that helps to be a finisher.”

Being a fast learner also means knowing how to give credit where it’s due.

“Our whole team is the reason that we score,” Wilson said. “The defense keeps it out of our end and the centers make really good through passes and our wings are really good at crossing it, so there’s just a lot of different ways that we can score.”

“We’ve scored 17 other goals by seven different players,” Trafton noted. “If they want to focus on Wilson and Fletcher, that’s fine. We’ve got Sammy (Grandahl) out there, we’ve got (Maddie) Bumann out there, we’ve got Emily out there,” Trafton said. “If one has a bad day, the other kids will pick up.”

As much as they’ve fed off their teammates and vice-versa, Fletcher and Wilson have surprised their coach with how well they’ve worked together.

“There are no egos there. They’re pretty happy-go-lucky kids,” Trafton said. “They just love playing soccer. It’s not a contest, like I’ve got to be the leading scorer. They have learned that if they can pass to each other then they’re both dangerous.”

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33

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