With only 13 girls on the varsity roster, all the athletes will be important for the East Troy High School girls soccer team this spring.
Of the 13 girls, nine are returning letter winners. A total of 27 girls are out for the program.
Leading the way will be senior Dani Stemper and junior McKayla Spurlock. Both will be leading the Trojans defensive effort.
Sophomore Monica Zoellner will anchor the midfield, aided by junior Natalie Probst and freshman Brianna Probst. Sophomore forward Brianna Casper will lead the offensive effort.
“Goals for the season are to develop solid defensive play and quick transition, making use of the solid touch and speed of our midfield and forward positions,” head coach Mike Bottum said.
With fields not yet ready for practice, the team has been practicing indoors.
“I am really looking forward to green grass,” Bottum added.
Bottum, in his sixth year as head coach, is assisted by Nick Datka (over 10 years in that capacity) and Mike Hoff (first year).
Early season schedule
The team played Union Grove at Westosha Central in Paddock Lake on April 3 and fell 2-0.
“Due to it being spring break, we combined junior varsity and varsity to be able to field a team,” Bottum noted. “I was very satisfied with how we worked defensively and filled in for our missing starters. The game could have gone either way given our number of shots on goal and easy misses.”
The Trojans’ games against Whitewater April 8, Delavan-Darien April 9 and Evansville April 11 were rescheduled due to weather and field conditions.
The team will be at McFarland on Monday, April 15, for an RVC game, and will host Lake Geneva Badger on Tuesday, April 16, at 4:45 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.
