Leadership key to Jackson girls’ success in final season under McMullen

There’s plenty to be excited about for the Jackson Indians girls soccer team this spring, from the scoring talent to some key defensive returners.

But there’s been one news clipping that’s caught the eye of local soccer fans: It’ll be the last ride for longtime coach Justin McMullen.

McMullen, frequently dubbed “Coach Mac,” begins his 18th year at the helm of the program on Monday, Mar. 18, but his focus remains, as ever, on keeping his team at a high level, academically and athletically.

“We want to be successful on and off the field,” McMullen began. “Making sure we’re doing the right things in the classroom as well as on the field.

“Those are the things that, as a coach, I look for in a successful program rather than just winning games.”

McMullen has always emphasized the development of his girls, coaching at the youth level years back and helping push many of his athletes to the next level.

He’s even had a few exceptional athletes go on to the Division-I level, with many playing for veteran Southeast Missouri State coach Heather Nelson.

But his most recent graduating class, one of his most talented ever, departed 10 months ago following a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss at home.

Losing Justi Nelson, Maci Wendel and Emilia Wunderlich, with Nelson going on to get significant playing time in her first year under her mother at Southeast, the team lost a big piece of its heart.

“As a coach, looking back at last year,” McMullen said. “Man, that was a talented group, and they’ll be very difficult to replace.”

When a door closes, however, another opens.

That’ll largely be the case for the Jackson offense, with some serious firepower offensively that’ll be tasked with making the step up this season.

From the Indians’ two seniors – Olivia Klinkhardt and Lauren Marchi – to the underclassman standouts in Maya Domian, Rudi Klund and Camryn Alsdorf, the squad is deep for the coming year.

“Our expectation is that everybody will be a leader out there,” McMullen said.

“Maya Domian has come in and stepped up into that role well, but we look at everyone out there as a leader. That's the expectation of the program.”

With the exit of Wendel and Wunderlich, the Indians were hurting at the back of the formation entering this season.

To combat this, however, McMullen has decided to pull back veteran forward Klinkhardt to put some greater experience in the backfield.

Paired with sophomore standout Ashlyn Dawes among others, McMullen is hopeful that the decision will pay dividends early.

“She's kind of moved all the way around the field, but she’s never complained,” McMullen said of Klinkhardt.

“As a coach, you couldn't really ask for anything more from your athletes than to buy into what you ask them to do.”

After the quick ascension of Klund as a freshman, Jackson will look to bring her to the forefront of the offense in 2024 following the departure of Nelson and the pulling of Klinkhardt to the rear.

She scored 12 goals in her debut campaign last year, many of which came in the Indians’ first few matchups.

McMullen has tremendous expectations for the sophomore striker entering the new year and will look to her as a new-look leader in the formation.

“She’ll fill in some of the scoring, hopefully,” McMullen said.

“She’s certainly one that can hurt you in a lot of different ways, not just the scoring. She’s someone that I feel like that is going to step up there.”

It’s never easy to replace a generational class. But in his last ride with the Indians, McMullen seems to have it figured out in the preseason.

Time will tell where the ceiling falls for this squad, but there’s been much anticipation to see the rising young talent of the squad put it back on the field for 2024.

“We're starting to figure some things out as far as having people being able to fill some key spots and moving some players around,” McMullen said. “Leadership has been really good so far.

“For right now, we’re just looking forward to our first game next Monday.”