The dropping temperature and icy winds can only mean one thing – soccer season is here and players from the boys and girls teams have high hopes for this year.

Senior Carlee Chaddrick said she is expecting her team to do well, despite the loss of many great seniors from last year. They have several new additions to the team who are progressing quickly and becoming more aggressive and skilled with every practice. The team has been running long distance and practicing many speed and agility drills to get ready for district play.

“I expect this year to be an awesome and fun year for sure,” Chaddrick said. “We have a lot coming for all our competitors and we will definitely be giving our all.”

As for the boys team, the players have been doing an abundance of drills and running frequently, but senior Jacob Thomas said he believes it’s nothing they can’t handle. He expects the team to do nothing less than to play hard, win district, and advance in playoffs.

“This year’s team will be different without the seniors from last year but I believe we’ll be just as good,” Thomas said. “The difference this year will be that most of our team will have more experience on a varsity level. We have more skilled players than last year and I think that with all these differences, we can be as successful as last year.”

As last year’s team won the district championship and advanced to playoffs, there is an inevitable pressure on the 2016 team to advance just as far. Senior Tyler Brown said he deals with the pressure by practicing harder and encouraging everyone to do so as well so they will be able to surpass the previous year’s team.

“Something unique about this year’s team is the friendships that everyone shares on it,” Brown said. “Being on Varsity since freshman year, I have seen a lot of change between teammates, districts, and coaching style and with this team this year I see the most potential.”