By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Last season Chelsea scored a total of 44 goals over 21 games. That total also included a 10-goal performance in the final game of the season against a bad Calera team. That was by far the lowest total goal number the Hornets have scored under Wilee Miller since Miller took over the head coaching job in 2008. That team finished the season with a 9-11-1 record and missed the playoffs for just the second time in Miller’s tenure.

“We struggled to put the ball in the back of the net last season,” Miller said. “It was a struggle for us for most of the year.”

Through six games in 2016, the Hornets have averaged three and a half goals per game and seemed to have taken a serious step forward on the offensive side of the ball. If the Hornets are going to make a push into the postseason this year after missing it a season ago, they are going to need to continue that offensive production.

Where this Chelsea team will truly draw its leadership, however, will come from the defensive side of the ball. Senior goalkeeper Markus Frederick is in his second year as Chelsea’s team captain and has the potential to grab and set almost every goaltending record in school history this season, according to Miller.

The offense will go as Chris Hill and Eli Alexander go, for the most part. Hill, the senior forward in Chelsea’s 4-5-1 attack, is the fastest player Miller has ever seen. He came to soccer later than most of his peers, and it took him a few years to get the technical aspect of the sport down, however his natural speed and athleticism makes him a threat to score from almost anywhere on the field at the drop of a hat.

Alexander, on the other hand, struggled a season ago to put the ball in the back of the net, but has come on strong early this season, according to Miller.

“He’s a guy I criticized last year because he couldn’t score,” Miller said. “He always competed and got it done in practice, but we didn’t see it in a game. After these first few games this year though he’s really come on. Sometimes it just takes a while.”

Miles Sharp, a junior transfer from Coosa Valley, as well as LaQuarious Belyeu, a senior who has started since he was a freshman, will also add to the offense. Belyeu has played in the defensive third in the field for the last three years, but Miller has some young bodies he is ready to throw in the back to allow his speedy senior to add to the offensive attack as well.