ASHLAND – Crystal Cook started the soccer season wearing uniform No. 11 for the Ashland girls soccer season. Two games ago she switched numbers.

The change has been more than routine. It’s provided both Cook and the Hornets with a big emotional spark.

The No. 20 jersey was supposed to be worn this year by Melinda “Mindy” Long, who was one of four sisters killed in a car accident on April 17. Long would have been a junior and Ashland’s starting sweeper.

Ashland coach Peter Belskis said Long’s stepfather Joe Basso, and mother Deanne Basso, wanted to have a member of the soccer team to wear Long’s number as a way for the girls to honor and remember Long.

They picked Cook.

“For me it’s a really big honor,” she said Tuesday after recording an assist in a 4-1 win over Easton. “I’m honored that he chose me to wear it. It gives me that extra push. It’s kind of like I’m playing for both of us.”

Cook embodies many of the traits Long brought to the team, Belskis said.

“[Long] was a hard-working, dedicated player, a team player,” he said. “We were going to build our defense around her this year but, unfortunately, we can’t do that with this tragedy. ”

Cook said she had been struggling earlier this fall, but the Hornets are 2-0 since Cook started wearing No. 20.

“Mindy’s stepdad thought this would be an extra push for me,” Cook said. ” Now that I’m wearing this number I don’t want to let it down.”

Belskis said the Bassos presented Long’s uniform to Cook one afternoon last week.

“You could cut the emotion, but it was really moving and it was a good thing for the healing process,” Belskis said. “You can’t forget, but you have to move on and it gives the girls a chance to feel that she’s still here.”

Basso is also helping coach the team this year. A former sweeper himself who played when Belskis was coaching the boys soccer team in the 1980s, Basso is working with the defenders.

“He feels a connection there and he wants to help,” Belskis said.

The Hornets also plan to wear wristbands with Long’s name and number.

Flint out with broken toe

Going into this season Ashland striker Whitney Flint seemed on track to break the school’s girls soccer career points record. But a broken big toe on her right foot has her on the sideline, possibly for the rest of the fall.

Flint, a junior who has 26 career goals and 14 assists for 40 points, had never missed a start before the injury. She suffered the broken toe during the Hornets’ second game of the season against Wisdom of St. Agatha. She thinks the injury happened when she accidentally kicked a Wisdom player.

“When it first happened part of my foot was numb,” Flint said. “I hopped off the field and got on the sidelines. I was trying to get [coach Peter Belskis] to put me back in the game. I tried to run but it didn’t look good. I couldn’t run.”

Although she’s been surprised at how quickly her foot has started to feel better, Flint said the x-ray showed her big toe is “pretty much in half.” It’s also affecting the top part of her foot.

“I’d probably be playing if it was one of my little toes,” she said. “I hate saying I broke a toe and I can’t play.”

Flint’s next doctor’s appointment is Sept. 7. She could be back for the last week of the season, but Flint is considering shutting down altogether to allow her toe to heal completely before basketball season.

“It’s a decision that I’m trying to make,” she said. “If I do come back, with the way I kick, it will irritate my foot a lot. I don’t want to hurt it any more for basketball. But I don’t want to hurt it for basketball. [The team is] being supportive. They’d like me to play but they’re OK with it.”

Amanda Martin is the current school record-holder with 84 points (57 goals, 27 assists) in her career. She set the record in 2001.

Belskis takes over

After four years as a volunteer assistant coach to Bill Nemer, Belskis took over the Ashland girls soccer head coaching post this year.

Belskis had coached the boys varsity for 27 years before resigning to serve alongside Nemer. He left the boys program in order to watch his daughter, Angela Belskis, play for four years. She graduated earlier this year and Nemer retired – his own daughter, goalie Ashley Nemer, also graduated – which opened up the job for Belskis.