Harris County girls soccer player is among nation’s top scorers

To say the start of Harris County soccer player Kylie Bechard’s junior season has been a hot one would be a bit of an understatement.

Bechard has been a scoring machine for Harris County, tallying 28 goals through the Lady Tigers’ 5-0 start. Her efforts are nearly unmatched in the entire country, as MaxPreps ranks her second in the United States in goals.

Thanks to her phenomenal play, Bechard has been named the Female Athlete of the Week.

“The start of the season has been good for me,” Bechard said. “This team that we have has connected a lot this year. We have a bunch of freshmen that play, and even with them we still have connected. It’s been good.”

Consistency has been key for Bechard, the daughter of former Columbus Cottonmouths general manager and head coach Jerome Bechard. In her last three games, she’s had at least five goals. Her play powers Harris County’s attack, and the team has outscored opponents 40-6 so far this season.

“Since she’s been playing up here on our team, she’s always been a leader,” Harris County coach Rob Grant said. “She’s a team player. I know she’s known for scoring, but she’s also very good at distributing the ball. When she’s on the field, she helps everybody be better. She elevates not just her game – she elevates everybody else’s game.”

That was never clearer than Harris County’s victory over Warner Robins on Tuesday. After a 2-2 stalemate in the first half of the region matchup, the Lady Tigers got rolling, putting up six unanswered goals in the victory. Bechard ended the game with six goals.

Grant pointed at the team’s 8-3 win over Thomas County Central on Feb. 16 as another example of Bechard’s importance. Bechard was being double-teamed through an unusually sluggish start for the Lady Tigers, but her assist on their first goal made the defenders rethink their strategy.

Five goals by Bechard later, another victory was sealed.

“She didn’t try to do it herself – she allowed her teammates to help get us started,” Grant said. “Once we got started, they had to start marking everybody. When they did, that opened it back up for her.”

Excellent play is nothing new for Bechard, who was the 2017 All-Bi-City Player of the Year. The Auburn commit credited her play on a travel team and her constant training as contributing factors to the early success, as both have forced her to stay on track.

Though the early wins have been enjoyable, Bechard knows she and her teammates have plenty more to do.

“It makes me so happy and so proud of the team,” Bechard said. “We still have a lot of things to work on, but I think we just need to practice hard.”

This story was originally published February 21, 2018 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Harris County girls soccer player is among nation’s top scorers."