Defense could dog the Wolves

"It's common for Gary Trautman to have a plethora of underclassmen on his soccer team.But the South Kitsap High School girls' soccer coach isn't concerned there are only three seniors on the squad.We lost our defense, Trautman said. Patty (Blankenship) is gone. Alexis Wright is gone. Kim Roberts is gone. The key is rebuilding that.While the defense will be raw with fresh faces, the offense that helped guide the Wolves to within one game of a state berth last year remains in tact.Junior Tiffany Storck started out at junior varsity last year but quickly earned a spot on varsity and proved she was destined to stay there after averaging nearly a goal per game.Junior Carri-Ann Anderson also will help up front, along with junior Amanda Bolz, who carries much needed speed on offense.Tiffany is a pure striker, Trautman said. Carri-Ann may be spending more time in the midfield, but will have some time up front because she's always been a scorer too. Whether the offense is successful is predicated by the midfield, which has four to five players returning to that position.Leading the way are juniors Jill Wilson, Ashley Sutton and sophomore Emilee Ashby.The key players on the field will be that of senior co-captain Denee Lindsley and junior Sarah Groves.Groves is the most versatile player on the field but will start out at defensive midfielder.I think we'll keep her at defensive midfielder because she directs the ball really well, Trautman said. Denee may play some central midfielder or up front somewhere, Trautman said of his scrappiest player.Also returning is senior goalkeeper and co-captain Clare Wilson, who shared duites with junior Megan Morey. But Morey has opted not to turn out, leaving Wilson as the mainstay in goal.The sweeper position, held by Blankenship last year, may be a position by committee.Ashby may be a candidate along with sophomore Jamae Feddock, Trautman said.If that works for them that would be great, he said. Young players looking to contribute include sophomore Jessica Splaine, who enjoyed some time at varsity last year and freshman Lauren Gehring.But after that Trautman said some players will be competing spots on defense.Another challenge for Trautman is the schedule.Steve Reischman (athletic director) went out and got some games against state caliber teams, Trautman said. It's going to be difficult but challenging.Pre-season games will include an away contest against Inglemoor, followed by a pair of home games against Evergreen and White River.Then the Wolves must open Narrows League play with arch-rival Gig Harbor.The goal remains the same for the Wolves, though, and Trautman said tough games early in the season should prepare his players for the post-season and hopefully a berth to the state tournament.We'll get a chance to see a lot of strong teams in our first 10 games, he said. We have a lot of kids who have experience from last year so it's not like we're starting over. We just need to find our defense.2000 ScheduleSept. 5 at Inglemoor 3:30 p.m.Sept. 7 Evergreen 3:30 p.m.Sept. 8 White River 3:30 p.m.Sept. 12 at Gig Harbor 3:30 p.m.Sept. 14 at Olympia 7 p.m.Sept. 19 Olympia 3:30 p.m.Sept. 21 Bellarmine 3:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Capital 4:30 p.m.Sept. 28 at Stadium 7 p.m.Oct. 3 Capital 7 p.m.Oct. 5 Peninsula 3:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at Mount Tahoma (Lincoln Bowl) 3:30 p.m.Oct. 17 at Peninsula 3:30 p.m.Oct. 19 Mount Tahoma 3:30 p.m.Oct. 23 Stadium 3:30 p.m.Oct. 28 Narrows League Playoffs TBD "

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