Girls soccer preview: Plenty of unknown heading into 2007 season

April 17, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - With only limited time practicing outdoors under their belts, area girls soccer coaches agree there's plenty of unknowns heading into the 2007 season.

&#8220Until we get going, it's really hard to tell,” Palmer coach Brian Fish said.

Wasilla's Katie Brodeur agreed.

&#8220We have not been able to get outdoors much, so it's going to take a while,” Brodeur said.

Colony is the only team with any competitive experience so far, having dropped a pair of games over the weekend to Wheat Ridge, Colo., and Juneau-Douglas - last season's state runner-up - in Juneau.

And while the Valley's three largest programs are taking a wait-and-see approach into this year's season, Houston High coach Mary Sandford said her team's focus will be on trying to build upon last season's achievement - the first win in school history.

&#8220We're definitely trying to build,” Sandford said.

Teams will get kicking this weekend as the Northern Lights Conference regular season gets underway. Homer will face Colony at 4 p.m. Friday, while Wasilla and Palmer will have an early chance at local bragging rights when they kick things off at 4 p.m. at Wasilla.

Palmer Moose

Palmer will be looking to build upon last season's successful campaign, which saw the Moose finish sixth in the state tournament.

Fish said he's got a good turnout of players for this year's team, although Palmer will be looking for some new leaders to step up. The Moose only feature two seniors this year, midfielder Arianna Cruz and fullback Alena Voigt.

Fish said he's counting on four-year starter Cruz especially to bring some leadership to his young team.

&#8220Her experience will certainly help out with the younger kids,” Fish said.

In addition to his two seniors, Fish also has last year's returning scorer, sophomore Tess Anderson back for a second campaign with the team.

Helping out Anderson up front should be junior striker Jessica Wyckoff, Fish said. In goal, he said junior Chelsea Beetch will be counted on as the team's stopper.

Fish said the team's mix of youth and experience should make for an exciting squad.

&#8220I think it's a pretty balanced mix,” he said.

With the loss of their top goaltender from the 2006 season, Brooke Gardner, to graduation, the Moose will have a new girl in net this season. Beetch is among the players battling for the top spot in goal.

Colony Knights

Despite struggling against Wheat Ridge, Colo., and Juneau-Douglas last weekend (they lost by a combined score of 14-0), Colony coach Lorie Miner said she has high hopes for the Knights.

&#8220This team played indoor all winter together, so they've learned how to gel and mesh together,” Miner said.

Transferring that indoor chemistry to the outside pitch, however, can take some time.

&#8220We're trying to take it to an outdoor mentality,” Miner said.

The Knights had a big turnout this year - in all 60 players tried out for the team - which Miner said should give them some depth.

&#8220I have some very skilled players - if they bring their A-game,” Miner said.

Miner said the Knights have a solid pair of senior defenders in Sydney Stolenberg and Heidi Heimerl, to go along with a bevy of talented younger players. Junior Jennifer Martin likely will see the most time in net to round out Colony's upperclassmen.

Miner said freshmen Jessica Farrell, Katie Gonski and Jessica Short will be called on to contribute, as will sophomores Kara Larson, Tara Garrod, April Bleicher and Tara Murray. As for where those players will be lining up, however, Miner said that's still to be determined.

&#8220It's going to be a versatile group,” she said.

And although Colony had a rough time in their first games, Miner promised a better showing in the team's conference opener this weekend against Homer.

&#8220We're going to be a different team.”

Wasilla Warriors

Like Colony, Wasilla's players have benefited by having a winter youth league to play in, and coach Katie Broeder said she's hoping that indoor experience can translate to a successful outdoor season.

&#8220Having that indoor team has helped us out a lot,” Broeder said.

Although the Warriors haven't had many chances to stretch their legs outdoors, Broeder said that practicing indoors has helped her team develop better ball control techniques.

&#8220We get to work on a lot of individual work and ball control,” she said.

Additionally, many of Wasilla's players have been together for several years now, which Broeder said she believes will be one of the Warriors' strengths.

&#8220A lot of these girls are experienced and have been playing year-round together,” she said.

Wasilla may be the most experienced team in the Valley, with eight returning seniors, led by midfielders Csesalie Lease and Courtney Husmann, defender Ayla Brown, goalie Danii Haley and forward Nikki Duque. Junior forward Randi Smith likely will be expected to contribute scoring up front.

Broeder said she believes there are also some younger players waiting in the wings to show what they can do.

&#8220We have a lot of depth with experienced older players and hungry younger players,” she said.

Houston Hawks

Numbers are always a problem for the Hawks, who only had 16 players turn out for the team this season. But that's five more than last season, and coach Mary Sandford is cautiously optimistic about this year's squad.

&#8220About half the team is returning,” she said.

Last year's Houston team won the school's first game, and they'll be trying to build on that success this year.

&#8220We're going to look to surprise some people and get some more goals,” Sandford said.

Houston's leading returnees include seniors Dana Ranum and sophomores Ariel Katzenberger and Kacey Newman. The Hawks also have junior goalie Jen Gardner back from last year's team.

Sandford said she's hoping that having some players with a couple years experience under their belts will help her team see show improvement.

&#8220I'm hoping our experience can help out,” she said.

Sandford also said she believes the Hawks will be able to take advantage of some good team speed to sneak up on their opponents.

&#8220We're going to definitely try to use our athleticism this year,” she said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com