Tracy Cassano spoke of "squeezing all the juice from the lemon" in terms of getting everything possible out of players at previous coaching stops in Chaska/Chanhassen, Rosemount and Burnsville.
Now coaching at Minnetonka and off to 4-0 start, Cassano was reminded of the luxury of holding a plum job. She always had some really talented players. Now there's more of them.
Cassano praised "the quality of the depth" on the roster for sprinting off the mark. Minnetonka outscored Roseville, Lakeville North, Roseau and Warroad by a 32-4 margin.
"We're a confident team right now," Cassano said. "Players work hard and work together. We talk about, 'Don't give up the ship,' which means, lay it out there for your teammates. And this is an unselfish group."
Leading scorer Lacey Martin (10 goals) posted hat tricks against Roseville and Warroad. But goals have come from 11 players. Rory Guilday and Lisa LaRoche, though yet to score goals, have combined for 11 assists.
On the back end, goalie Brynn Dulac shut out the Skippers' first three opponents — "We told her it was a hat trick of shutouts," Cassano said — and didn't allow Warroad to score until Minnetonka had built a 4-0 lead.
Cassano inherited a program with three consecutive Class 2A state tournament championships from 2011 to 2013, and a team coming off its first state tournament appearance in four years.
"We're trying to keep this a powerhouse program year after year," Cassano said.
