Last season ended with heartbreak in the state semifinals for the varsity girls soccer team. Despite falling short of their ultimate goal, a state title, this year’s revamped team is back and better than ever. With nine college commits on the roster, the expectations are high entering the 2017 season.

“We have a very talented team that is capable of competing with anyone,” head coach Jeremy Stacy said. “Whether we do that or not remains to be seen, but it will come down to how hard we are willing to work and how much we are willing to sacrifice collectively.”

After losing numerous seniors last season, seven to be exact, FHC will look to fill the holes with new recruits. New faces, such as Abby Irving, Madison Donley, Kalie Rubey, Rylee Hrnyack, Katie Mahoney, Kaitlin Weaver, Jessie Borowski, and Ali Czarnecki, will look to bolster the star-studded roster and provide valuable minutes off of the bench.

“Our starters are phenomenal and our bench is quite skilled as well,” Ali said. “The first half of our season should be pretty manageable, so it’ll be good preparation for the bulk of our schedule.”

Three players returning to the starting lineup this season, are captains Bailey Korhorn, Emma Yoder, and Madeline Becker. All three plan on continuing their soccer careers at the next level.

FHC, with two deadly attackers up front, pose a threat to the opposition. The dynamic duo, of Bailey and Madeline, who combined to score the most goals on the team last season, will look to continue their production on the offensive end once again.

On the opposite end of the field stands goalkeeper Emma Yoder. Only letting in seven goals during the entire 2016 season, the 6’2″ junior will give opposing offenses a tough time in regards to goal scoring.

One reason for Emma’s success is because of the stone-wall defense she has defending her net. One key component of the back four is junior Natalie Lunt. Natalie plans on continuing her soccer career at Indiana University in the near future.

“The defense this year will play a big factor in the overall success of our team,” Natalie said. “Last year, we had a pretty good season, so we’ll look to follow that up.”

Bailey, who committed to the University of Cincinnati during her sophomore year of high school, is solely focused on the success of the Rangers soccer team her senior year.

“I’m super excited for this season,” Bailey said. “We have a ton of girls that are already committed to play soccer at the next level, so our goals are set pretty high. Last year we lost in the state semis, so this year we’re looking to make it even further. With this group of girls, the skies the limit.”