Coach Embrey Sees Success for BTW Players

By MIKE MOGUIN
GTR Sports Writer

After leading Booker T. Washington to a pair of state titles in girls’ soccer in her two seasons as coach, Kassie Embrey has left to take the same position at Broken Arrow.
Embrey said that leaving Booker T. was hard. In a recent interview, she made her love for her players and the administration known. Seven players graduated from the 2019 squad, including three, Ashton Gordon, Lauren Cousins and Zoe Athens, who are bound to play at the college level.
Gordon and Athens each had a goal in BTW’s 5-3 win over Bishop Kelley in the Class 5A title game in May. Cousins scored the only goal to give the Lady Hornets a 1-0 win over Cascia Hall in the 2018 title game. Embrey sees great success for the trio.
“They’re all three great players. I think they will get out of it what they put into it. If they put 100 percent into it, then I think they’re going to be extremely successful and go far,” she said. “I know Ashton’s goal is to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team. That is why she is leaving a year early to go get that D-I experience. Ashton is one of those girls who sets a goal and works her butt off until she reaches it. So, I see that for her.”
Gordon is headed for Arkansas.
“Zoe is going to NOC-Tonkawa. She is more about ‘let’s still play soccer because we love it and we’ve done it, but also, let’s have some fun at college,’” Embrey said. “And she’s being roommates with one of her best friends. I think she’ll get 100 percent out of what she puts into it is what they’ll get out of it. Lauren is going to Rockhurst (in Kansas City, Mo.) and she doesn’t know anybody, so I think her plan is like soccer-oriented as well. But I think all three will be successful if they want it, they will be,” she added.
Before she came to BTW, Embrey was an assistant at Bishop Kelley for one season, helping the Lady Comets win the Class 5A title in 2017.
“I worked for Troy Takarchik (head girls coach at Kelley), who at the time had 14 state championships. He asked me to come work for him and I thought, ‘who better to learn from than someone with that much success running programs and winning state.’ And I worked with him and we won state,” Embrey said.
It was Takarchik who helped Embrey get the job at Booker T.
“He’s the one that helped put my name in for that job and I went there and was able to win two championshops back-to-back while I was there as the head coach. It was awesome,” she said.
Interestingly, her last championship came against Takarchik and Kelley.
“I was excited,” Embrey said. “I would say that if we didn’t win I wouldn’t have had a problem with him winning. I still respect him as a coach like tons, but, yes, it was exciting to go from learning from him to being able to compete with him at the same level that he coaches and being able to win.”
“Finding her was like a diamond in the rough,” BTW Athletic Director Brad Calip said of Embrey. Calip said that he is currently looking at resumes while finding a candidate to take over the BTW girls soccer program.