The Badger girls soccer has 18 athletes this season and, due to graduating so many seniors last year, the team is working to create a new dynamic.

New to the program are five freshmen and returning are three seniors.

Head coach Emily Winebark said this season’s focus is building a healthy and positive team dynamic for the young team, since most of the team’s leadership graduated last year.

“We are also focusing heavily on building defensive skills and getting back to the basics of shooting and passing technique as we have a lot of new players,” she said.

In the off-season, a number of the team athletes participated in open field scrimmages and Monday night community league, she said. In addition, to encourage fitness in the off season, athletes were asked to follow a running program throughout the summer, Winebark said.

Last season, girls’ soccer proved they could be competitive. They may have finished third in the league, but they did beat the second ranked team during regular season play.

“We proved that we can show up, be competitive and have a shot at state. I think this gave the girls a lot more confidence and I hope they can bring that into this season and remember what they are capable of,” she said.

Due to Kellogg dropping down to 2A, Badger girls’ soccer will be playing larger schools such as Lakeland.

“This will be a challenge for the girls as they will face very skilled teams, many of whose players have opportunities to be in competitive play all year long,” Winebark said. “I always tell the girls to go into these games with confidence, because they play as well as they decide they can and it can only make us better,” she said.

Winebark added that she sees a lot of potential in many of our returning players, especially juniors Lindsay Onstott and Brenly Hymans and senior Mia Blackmore, who are all showing themselves capable of playing at a very high level of competition.

“Freshman Maddie Hart worked hard in the summer leagues and shows tons of promise,” she said.

In the season opener, the Badgers beat the St. Maries Lumberjacks 3-0.

Scorers were freshen Alexys Mierke, Maddie Hart and junior, Brenly Hymas.

“The girls did a great job passing and being first to the ball,” Winebark said. “Our focus for the game was keeping the majority of possession and I think girls really did that. Our defensive centers Majasa Allred and Lindsay Onstott did an incredible job with their tackles and steals and our center midfielder Mia Blackmore controlled the center of the field the entire game.”