Forty-four players – including 10 returning letterwinners – are out for girls’ soccer this spring at Waupaca High School.
That’s good news for longtime coach Mark Polebitski, who coached the Comets to a 5-3 record last year in the Eastern Valley Conference. Waupaca tied for third place in the standings with Freedom and Winneconne.
“It’s a good group of girls and what’s really nice about it is we have an even numbers of players between senior, juniors, sophomores and freshmen,” Polebitski said. “We have 10 at each level and that’ll keep the program going in the future.”
Although the Comets have more than 40 players on the roster, they also have to replace the team’s five all-conference players in first-teamers Sierra Patzke and Josee Waitrovich; second-teamer Lizzi Hanke; and third-teamers Anna Abrams and Courtney Jungers.
“A number of girls played open gym in the offseason and I can see their skill level definitely took a step to the next level,” Polebitski said. “We have a lot of girls that played winter sports – basketball and hockey – and came to camp in pretty good shape. Fitness-wise, we’re pretty happy with where they’re at.
“This part of the season, it’s always tricky with the ball touches,” he added. “Ball touches are a little rusty, so that’s what we’re trying to work on, to get the confidence when the ball comes to them that they can receive it and make something positive happen.”
The Comets opened the season March 31 at home against Seymour and will host New London at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2.
One of the holes the Comets have to fill is Waitrovich, now a goalkeeper at Middle Tennessee State.
“Junior Taylor Korth is coming back this year as goalie and she’s been training in the offseason,” Polebitski said. “We’ve been really fortunate in Waupaca to have a long line of talented goalies and Taylor’s just going to add to that tradition. She’s a leader on the field and takes the game very seriously.”
Also back is senior Alyssa Nicewander, a three-year varsity starter.
“She was one of the assist leaders last year and played about half the season until she got hurt,” Polebitski said. “She’s a real athlete and it’s good to have a true athlete as your forward. It’s the most difficult position on the field to play. Either you got it or you don’t and Alyssa has that knack to score. She understands where to be when the ball’s by the net and seems to make things happen.”
The roster also includes senior Maleva Butkiewicz.
“She was a midfielder last year and were expecting her to play center-midfield, another extremely difficult position on the field,” Polebitski said. “You’re the captain of the team, you’re running the show out there, you’re deciding who’s going to get the ball and how it’s going to be distributed. Maleva is going to be the person in charge. She has one of the best legs on the team, so we’re hoping we can get some long shots from far out.
“The middle’s always critical,” he said. “We have Alyssa on top, Maleva and defensively, we’re going to have Nikki Weise. Our middle players are all coming back and are experienced. It’s the outside players that we have to look at the talent and assess it. I think we have the talent, it’s just training somebody job responsibility to know that job.”
Other key returning players include defenders Amber VanHandel and Ellie Miller; and midfielders Gabby Avery, Bailey Johnson, Claire Jungers and Ivy Miller.
Waupaca spent most of last season on the road, but this year’s schedule includes 11 home games and the Waupaca Invitational.
“Last year, we were on the road quite a bit and this year, those games are home,” Polebitski said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of practices. I was looking at the schedule and from now until the last regular-season game, we have 20 games and only 20 practices. We don’t have a lot of practice time, so we really have to take care of business and be productive every single day because there’s not that much time. It’s nice that we’re at home because going on the road always take a lot out of the girls.”
Polebitski expects defending champion and state qualifier Appleton Xavier and Fox Valley Lutheran to compete for an EVC championship this season.
“They’re going to be at the top, along with a much-improved Freedom team and Winneconne,” he said. “Only time will tell where we fit into that mix. It’s going to be difficult for us to play well after losing our key players from last year.
“We just have to see how these kids develop over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “I’m curious to get out there this week, play those games and see what we’ve got.”
Waupaca Girls’ Soccer 2015 Schedule
Varsity
Tuesday, March 31 – vs. Seymour, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 2 – vs. New London, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 7 – at Stevens Point, 7 p.m.
Friday, April 10 – vs. Hortonville, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 14 – vs. Appleton Xavier, 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 16 – at New Holstein, 7 p.m.
Friday, April 17 – vs. Shawano, 7 p.m.
Monday, April 20 – vs. Wausau East, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, April 21 – at Freedom, 4:45 p.m.
Friday, April 24 – vs. Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, April 28 – vs. Winneconne, 5 p.m.
Thursday, April 30 – at Little Chute, 4:45 p.m.
Monday, May 4 – vs. Ripon, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 5 – vs. Menasha St. Mary Central, 5 p.m.
Friday, May 8 – at Fox Valley Lutheran, 4:45 p.m.
Monday, May 11 – at Clintonville, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, May 14 – vs. Berlin, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 16 – Waupaca Invitational, 9 a.m.
Thursday, May 28 – at Amherst, 4:30 p.m.
Junior Varsity
Tuesday, March 31 – vs. Seymour, 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 2 – vs. New London, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 7 – at Stevens Point, 5 p.m.
Friday, April 10 – vs. Hortonville, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 14 – vs. Appleton Xavier, 5 p.m.
Thursday, April 16 – at New Holstein, 5 p.m.
Friday, April 17 – vs. Shawano, 5 p.m.
Monday, April 20 – vs. Wausau East, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, April 21 – at Freedom, 4:45 p.m.
Tuesday, April 28 – vs. Winneconne, 5 p.m.
Friday, May 8 – at Fox Valley Lutheran, 4:45 p.m.
Saturday, May 9 – at Mosinee JV Invitational, 9 a.m.
Monday, May 11 – at Clintonville, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, May 14 – vs. Berlin, 5 p.m.