MP soccer teams prepared for SEC battles

By Andy Krutsinger, Mt. Pleasant News

The Mt. Pleasant soccer teams are gearing up for the start of the regular season next week.

Both teams are coming off near .500 seasons. The boys? team went 8-9 overall and 2-6 in SEC play. The girls were 7-9 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

The boys? team brings back a ton of talent from last year with only three seniors graduating since last spring.

Among the returners are the top three scorers from last year. Ryan Hutchinson (11 goals, five assists), Tanner Ruby (seven goals, seven assists) and Cade Warner (six goals) will all be returning for the Panther boys this year. Kyle Medina will be another key returner for the Mt. Pleasant offense.

Other returners include the defensive trio of Jacob Alanis, Maison Ashton and Payton Kelly as well as keeper Nathan Rauenbuehler who made 73 of the Panthers? 83 saves last season and had a goals-against average of 2.290.

The core of returners will be joined by a handful of returners including Luis Olivia and the freshmen duo of Jeny and Ovidio Reyes-Cardona, all of which will be slotted in the midfield position.

?The future looks very bright with a solid group of freshmen and sophomores playing on the team this year,? says head coach Neil Brennan. ?Several of these young players could see some varsity playing time before the season is over.?

Ft. Madison went undefeated in 2016 to win the boys? conference crown, but the Bloodhounds have been gutted by graduation, leaving room for any of the other SEC teams to take the title this year.

The Mt. Pleasant girls will need to find their offense this season after the departure of Lauren Ralls, who has anchored the offense for the last three seasons.

The Panthers also lost Maddy Long and Megan Hoenig to graduation, meaning Mt. Pleasant is going to have a couple of holes to fill on the back end as well.

Mt. pleasant will return three players who had over 10 points last season. Shyla Hiler (10 goals, five assists), Mary West (10 goals, three assists) and Catherine Prough (three goals, five assists) will all return, as will Elizabeth Litchfield, who played a variety of positions last season.

Skyler Melville will return to lead the defensive effort this season. She will be helped out by newcomers Mellanie Vargas and Apryl Simon.

Three players got time at goalkeeper last season, but there will be some new blood in net in 2017.

Coach Brennan Williams lists Amber Fielder and Ayden Ross as his two keepers coming into the 2017 season. Litchfield will be the lone returner that got time in net.

Coach Williams also says it will be up to the seniors and juniors to lead this team.

?It?s a group that gets along with each other with some good upperclassmen leadership,? Williams says. ?They understand expectations of the program and can be vocal with their knowledge.?

Fairfield and Keokuk finished first and second in conference last season. The Trojans and Chiefs are early favorites this year as well, with both teams returning their leading scorers.

Mt. Pleasant will begin its soccer schedule on Tuesday, April 4, in Centerville. The girls will start things off at 4:15 p.m., with the boys following.