All-Area High School Soccer 2024: Clark twins named Co-Players of the Year after pairing to lead Lady Bruins

Published 6:00 am Sunday, July 14, 2024

TUNNEL HILL — A strong connection between a midfielder and striker can be a lethal combination for defenses.

Well-placed passes can advance the ball and put a team in a better position to score, but, often, a chemistry has to be developed over time as players learn each other’s strengths and play styles before an effective duo can form.

Luckily for the Northwest Whitfield Lady Bruins, once particular midfield-striker connection has been developing since birth.

Twins Meryl Clark, the midfielder, and Sadie Clark, the striker, suit up together for Northwest.

During the 2024 season, the juniors both piled up goals and assists for the Region 7-4A champion Lady Bruins.

And plenty of those goals for each came from assists from the other.

“It’s taken time, but we’ve been playing together since we were 4 years old,” Meryl Clark said. “It’s almost unspoken. You just naturally start to get that connection. I know where she is, and she knows where I am at all times.”

Meryl had 22 goals and 15 assists, ticking a slightly higher assist number than Sadie by virtue of her stellar passes from the midfield setting up Sadie and the other talented Lady Bruin goal scorers.

Meanwhile, Sadie edged out her sister with 24 goals, utilizing her skill in finishing goals, to lead Northwest and assisted 12 times on the year.

Both twins were named to the Region 7-4A first team, and each received a Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class 4A All-State nod, Sadie as a first-teamer and Meryl as a second.

With the large impact made on the Lady Bruins’ season by both Sadie Clark and Meryl Clark, the pair of sisters has been named the 2024 Dalton Daily Citizen All-Area Girls Soccer Co-Players of the Year.

When asked what makes her sister a good player, Sadie touts the all-around game of Meryl.

“She’s good all over the field since she plays in the middle,” Sadie Clark said. “If you need her on defense, she’s good on defense. If you need her up top, she’s good up top. She’s easy to look for on the field and she’s reliable. She’s just everywhere.”

Meanwhile, Meryl said that Sadie is a skilled scorer and an unselfish sharer.

“Sadie’s a very good individual player, but she’s also a good team player,” Meryl said. “You can always expect a great pass from her, but she can also dribble through a bunch of defenders and make a play by herself.”

That’s a part of Sadie’s game that she said she had been focusing on.

“I think I’ve improved on that a lot,” Sadie said. “My job a lot of the time is finishing the goal, but I like to look for the open passes when someone else is open.”

The connection between the Clark sisters is obviously strong, but a strength in teamwork doesn’t stop at teammates who happen to be related.

“Our whole team just has a connection that a lot of teams don’t,” Meryl said. “Our defense is so good at talking and communicating throughout the whole game.”

Northwest had a talented enough offense to outscore teams, but it usually didn’t have to.

A lockdown defense, anchored by another all-state first-teamer in Sophia Hargis, allowed just a single goal in Region 7-4A play as Northwest won the region championship.

“You need a great defense to be able to score on offense,” Sadie Clark said.

And all of Meryl and Sadie’s goals and assists didn’t come exclusively with each other either.

Other scorers, like Lexi Lyon, Jazmin Cortes, Yulianna Herrada and Sofia Ortiz, also set up — and were set up — by each other and the Clarks.

Northwest, after winning Region 7-4A, cruised past Clarkston 10-0 in the first round of the 4A playoffs.

Waiting in the second round was a North Oconee team that had reached the state championship game the year before.

“The team that played us had a lot of experience and it was a tough challenge, but we did our best and lived up to those expectations especially in winning the region,” Sadie said.

North Oconee knocked off Northwest and was a state finalist again in 2024, falling in the state championship game to Lovett.

Northwest finished the year at 14-4-1.

“We always set our expectations pretty high as a team,” Meryl said. “We obviously want to make it as far as we can, but we had a great year.”

As the twins enter their senior year next spring, Meryl said those internal expectations would be high for the team again.

“We just want to work as hard as we can to achieve those goals,” Meryl said.