by Libby Hyde

STA’s varsity soccer team is ranked second in the preseason standings in the state and eighth nationally and is looking forward to a successful season after finishing second at State competition level last year.

“The girls should be proud of both rankings because the rankings come down to the work they’ve done the past few seasons,” Varsity coach Jeremy McElduff said. “If we falter at some time in the season, we have to be willing to look at the mistakes we make and figure out how to fix them.”

With six seniors having graduated last year and having six new incoming seniors, senior Savannah Trujillo predicts a tough but exciting season.

“This year will be a big year for people who have been playing on JV to really show their skills,” Trujillo said. “There are also some really good freshman coming in as well.”

Trujillo is hoping the team will not only advance to State once again this year, but is hoping to win. After losing State last year to Eureka, a team from St. Louis, Trujillo predicts many of the St. Louis teams will be STA’s most difficult competition. McElduff agrees, adding that the STA team will have to pay special attention to Park Hill South and Lee’s Summit West.

“They build different kinds of soccer players,” Trujillo said. “They are bigger, stronger and play a lot more physical than teams over on this side of the state. Its a whole different game.”

The team plans to combat such teams with a solid defensive line.

“We are going to have a very very strong attacking line,” Trujillo said. “We will be very offensively minded but a strong defense as well.”