With the school split, the numbers are down this soccer season for the Jefferson City Jays.
A positive is it means the remaining players will get a little more individual attention.
"We aren't changing the way we play, but we are paying more attention at the sub-varsity level," Jefferson City coach Scott Blake said as the Jays prepared to take on C.B.C. to open the season Friday in St. Louis. "We've got some JV positions that are vacant and we're going to be placing a little higher demands on the players that are with us.
"But that means we are creating more opportunities."
Jefferson City has 40 players out for soccer this season, down about 25 percent from recent seasons. Blake estimated 10 players who played at various levels last season at Jefferson City are now at Capital City.
"I wish them nothing but the very best," Blake said. "I know it's a tough position for those kids to be going to a new school."
The cupboard is far from bare for the Jays, who bring back nine starters among 14 varsity returners. Those players scored a combined 36 goals.
"That's some pretty good scoring to have back," Blake said.
But returning nearly all of the starting lineup doesn't mean Jefferson City should hit the ground running.
"You can lose one player and the puzzle changes and that's what we're finding," Blake said. "People can think with that many returning starters you will just turn the key and take right off. But it's not that way.
"The picture has changed and we're still trying to figure out what it needs to look like," he added. "But that's what the regular season is for, we're going to be better at the end than we are right now."
Jefferson City has always prided itself on its defense. Blake said this team needs to establish a better defending identity.
"We're a team full of midfielders," he said. "We have the ability to go forward. But we have to learn how to defend.
"Now we have a group of attacking players, but we're needing to backtrack a little bit to make sure we're doing what we need to do defensively."
In the Jamboree last Saturday in Columbia, the Jays did not allow a goal in 75 minutes of action.
"That's a good start, but it's just a Jamboree," Blake said. "I like the strides we're making, I'm just looking for a couple of players to step up and take the challenge.
"If we can do that, we might have a chance to maximize our potential."
Toby Hughes, a junior, returns as the starter in goal for the Jays. Eli Chapman, also a junior, is the reserve keeper.
Sam Allen, who scored 11 goals last season, and Travis Smith started at the center back spots in the Jamboree. Both are seniors. The wide backs are senior David Gillam and junior Zach Leary.
Will Kuster, a senior who was an all-region selection last year, is one of the center midfielders. Also slated to play center mid are juniors Ethan Blake and Darby Hall. Bassil Ahmed, also a junior, will be a wide midfielder. When Jefferson City plays five in the midfield, he could be joined outside by a mix of Gillam and juniors Jaydep Halder, Ethan Dubois and Quinn Walker.
Breck McGrail, a junior, will start at forward.
"We've worked on a lot of shapes," Scott Blake said. "We have some that are better for a defense and some that are better when we're trying to attack."
One of the strengths of the team is its ability to make in-game adjustments.
"We were young last year and it required us to move players around to try to mirror our opponent," Blake said. "These guys were really responsive to that and it's carried into this season. They understand why we're doing it and they just do it."
Blake believes one of the ways the team can improve from last season is to be more rhythmic with the ball.
"It wasn't always the beautiful game last year, we were trying to install some confidence in our guys," he said. "This year, we're trying to do a little more when it comes to the passing side of the game.
"We don't want to be quite as direct with the ball as we were at times last year."
C.B.C. figures to be a very stiff test to start the season. The Cadets defeated the Jays 5-0 last year.
"We're looking to get some moments against them, more than we had then when we played them last year," Blake said. "We didn't have very many soccer moments last year. We have to take something away from this game."
The Jays will play 16 regular-season games and three tournaments this season. New to the schedule is the Parkview Tournament in mid-September.
Jefferson City will open its home schedule Saturday, Sept. 7, against Camdenton.