Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

Her teammates don’t call her by her nickname, but they’re quite aware of why she’s earned it.

Her coaches definitely use the nickname, and fondly.

And opponents … well, they just know she fits the description when on the soccer pitch. They often employ double and triple teams to try to stop her.

Her name is Sidney Peters and she wears number 14 for Traverse City St. Francis. She was an all-state selection last year as a sophomore, leading St. Francis to the Regional.

She’s now well-known as “The Beast.”

“She is just so physically sound and she’s not afraid to go body to body, and she’s not afraid to take over the game and control it just by moving out of the way and not taking on contact,” said her coach Scott Conway. “She always has her head up, always looking to distribute first and then if she has to hammer, she takes it over — that’s what I love about her.”

Despite sitting out one of the Gladiators’ eight games this season to nurse a lingering ankle injury, Peters has seven goals and a team-leading 12 assists.

The Glads got off to a 5-0 start this year before taking a couple of tough losses. They got back on the winning track this week at Kingsley. They’re looking to pick up three wins this weekend at the Big Rapids Invitational as they take on Gaylord, Ludington and the host Cardinals.

“I think it was hard coming off a win against Williamston and then playing two tough teams,” Peters acknowledged. “There was a lot of reflecting lately coming into the game with Kingsley about our performance and what we need to do to get better. We wanted to really control the game a little bit more than we did the last few games.”

Peters took control in the 5-0 win over Kingsley on Wednesday. She dominated possession and worked the passing lanes while picking up assists on four of the Gladiators’ five goals.

That win is helping Peters and her teammates look ahead to this weekend’s tournament and also matches against bigger schools down the road including Midland, Marquette and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. Now 6-2, the Gladiators have found themselves ranked in the top 10 all season in Division 3, including at No. 7 this week.

“I am really looking forward to those games that are super important,” said Peters. “It’s showing people smalls schools can do it.  When we go against big schools — even if it’s a loss — if we put up a good fight and show we can hang, that’s something to be proud of, I think.”

Peters plays competitive travel soccer in the fall and trains all winter. She’s always striving to grow her game and improve. Among her strengths, Conway noted, is her ability to maintain composure under pressure while constantly striving for success.

She was stoic and calm growing up, with high levels of mental strength and toughness. Her family and coaches believe that those traits, paired with her physical strength and aggressiveness, make Peters a perfect fit for the sport.

“Sid is playing out of her mind,” said Conway, now in his sixth year at the helm for St. Francis. “She’s my top player. She’s already coming out strong with her stats this year, and I expect them to improve.”

Becoming “The Beast,” so the story goes, happened during her youth soccer days. Her spectacular freshmen year led Conway to go public with the name. And while her teammates don’t say the name, they do acknowledge it with their actions in practice.

“They definitely don’t like to go up against me in practice,” Peters said of her teammates.  “They’re like, ‘She’s going to push me over’ or whatever, but I’ve never heard it (the nickname).”

Among her favorites aspects of soccer is the physical play, Peters admitted. It started in her center back playing days in youth soccer. She began receiving attention from opponents as she was named all-state honorable mention as a freshman.

“Coming from my freshman year where I wasn’t known to my sophomore year where people start to know you playing you two times per season, and it’s like, ‘Let’s put a girl on her and try to mark her’ and after that it started to be ‘try to take her out, let’s foul her,’” Peters said. “It’s part of the game — when two or three people are going at you, it is going to get physical.”

Peters isn’t the only reason the Gladiators are looking forward to great things this season. They are coming off an 18-2-1 finish a year ago and are led in goals scored by junior Riley Collins with 12, while senior Lillian David has added 11.

And they have a strong defense led by center back Grace Rowe and stingy goaltender Paisleigh Upshaw, who was second-team all-state as a sophomore. The Glads have allowed only six goals this spring.

“We’ve got some of the top players in the state, especially D3,” Conway said. “I am very blessed to have them part of the St. Francis program.”

After St. Francis won its first Lake Michigan Conference girls soccer title last year, the league was disbanded. The Gladiators are playing as independents this spring.

That has the Glads focused solely on a run through the Regional. They’ll have to repeat as  District champions first, heading to the Hart District where they could face Clare, Kingsley, Manistee, Reed City, Remus Chippewa Hills and the host Pirates.  

“The expectation is for us to continue to develop and get better as a squad,” Conway said. “And then make a nice postseason run, and I truly believe with this group of girls we shouldn't have any problem doing that.”

Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City St. Francis’ Sidney Peters (14) controls possession against Kingsley. (Middle) Peters and  teammate Reese Muma (4) exchange high-fives during their game against Williamston. (Photos by Julie English.)