There a lot of familiar faces for the Helias Lady Crusaders this soccer season.
A lot of them.
"We pretty much have everybody back," Helias coach Brad Dempsey said as the Lady Crusaders prepared for today's season opener at Waynesville. "It's a really good mix of young players with a lot of experienced ones."
And it is a talented group. Helias claimed the district title season before falling to eventual state champion Notre Dame de Sion in the sectionals.
That experience, along with the good weather in the preseason, has allowed the Lady Crusaders to be ahead of where they normally are this time of the year.
"We're at the point with this program, the girls' level of play and understanding of play has gotten so high, that we can teach more things, be more detailed in what we're looking for as coaches," Dempsey said.
"We can get more specific in practice and we're going to do that this season."
Dempsey said the Lady Crusaders are planning on a 16-player rotation this season.
"We're pretty deep with a lot of girls who play a lot of positions," he said. "We're going to be able to use a couple of formations this year, which will change depending on our opponent."
The defensive will be led by a pair of seniors - Ashley Rehagen in goal and Morgan Wieberg at center back.
Hannah Crane, a junior, returns to start at left back. A trio of sophomores - Olivia Farrow, Krystal Brauner and Maggie Winegar - are in the mix on the right side.
The center-midfielders are returning senior starters Abby Shepard and Lexy Lamb. Maya Heckart, a sophomore, will start at attacking-midfielder.
Up front for the Lady Crusaders are seniors Sarah Pierle and Kayla Yanskey, along with sophomore Reece Hamilton.
Among the players coming off the bench are senior Torey Mueller, junior Megan Kerr, sophomores Michaelee Sipi and Jennifer Szumigala, and freshmen Hannah Loethen and Bailey Henson.
"We've been able to start at a place where we've never been able to start at in the past," Dempsey said. "When we scrimmage, we don't have to stop as much to teach what we're looking for because they already know it.
"The girls like it because we're not stopping what we're doing. They just get to keep progressing and I think the girls really enjoy that."
Dempsey thinks it is a team that is more than capable of making a deep run in the playoffs.
"We're going to be tested all year," he said. "Our regular-season schedule will really test us to get ready for the postseason because we will have played teams with the talent we would see deep in the playoffs."
Helias will host the Class 3 District 13 tournament in its final season at the 179 Soccer Park.
"This is been a great facility, our parents have poured a lot of energy and time into it to made it as great as it is," Dempsey said.
The Helias boys and girls teams will play next season at the new athletic complex currently under construction at the school.
"Being able to take our soccer programs to campus will be great," Dempsey said. "It will be great for attendance and build more of a school atmosphere."
Helias will open its home schedule Thursday against St. Joseph's Academy.