AREA SOCCER FIGURES TO ONCE AGAIN FEATURE PLENTY OF COMPETITION

As is generally the case, there figures to be plenty of competition for area supremacy among high school boys soccer teams this season.

Cape Girardeau Central, which has fielded strong squads consistently over most of the past decade, will be trying to bounce back from an uncharacteristic down season that saw the Tigers finish with a rare losing record.

Notre Dame will look to continue a recent run of success that has seen the Bulldogs go 57-14-7 over the last three season.

And Jackson will try to build on last year's breakthrough season that saw the Indians capture their first-ever district title, although the Indians lost a host of key players off that squad.

Following is a look at how the three local teams stack up as the season opens next week.

Cape Central

Youth.

That's the operative word for the Tigers as they try to rebound from last year's 10-13-4 record that included Central having its five-year reign as Class 4A district champion end.

"We're young. Very young," said Central coach Tom Doyle. "We've got 35 kids in the program and only five are seniors. We've got nine juniors, 14 sophomores and seven freshmen.

Last year marked the Tigers' first losing season under Doyle.

"We definitely want to turn that around," he said. "One of the things we've really, really stressed is conditioning. And the attitude of the kids is real good. I think we've got some real good skill levels, it's just a question of how we put it together as a team."

Doyle said that many positions will be up for grabs until the first game, but he is counting on several players in particular.

Among the key performers will be three players who earned first-team all-conference honors last year and served as captains: seniors Nathan Gibbar and Justin McMullin and junior Justin Shelby.

Also back are the two goalies who split time last season, juniors Mike Pickett and Eric Bennett.

Doyle will be counting on senior Brad Bollwerk, who didn't play last year but was a key performer as a sophomore.

Two transfers from Notre Dame who were ineligible to compete for the Tigers last year, senior Robby Winschel and junior Mark Fisher, should help out.

Also being counted on by Doyle are sophomore Matt Brandt, in his first year with the program, and three promising freshmen: John Mark Thompson, Arthur Pilsner and Cody Hill.

The Tigers open the season Tuesday at home against Jackson.

Notre Dame

Last year's 16-5-5 record was somewhat of a surprise, since the Bulldogs were a very inexperienced team.

But a big-time record certainly wouldn't be a surprise this season as Notre Dame returns all but one player from 1997.

"I guess I'd have to say I like what I see so far," said coach Brad Wittenborn. "Last year's success was kind of surprising, since we had lost so many starters from the year before. But this year we're very experienced."

And much of that experience is in the form of juniors, who make up a large part of the key Notre Dame players.

Zach Miller, last year's leading scorer with around 20 goals, returns for his senior season and he'll be joined up front by three juniors: Tommy Wencewicz, Adam Obermiller and Chris Dirnberger.

Returning at midfield are seniors Ryan Fenwick and Jason Garner, along with juniors Oliver Sanders and Cory Elfrink.

Heading up the defense, which Wittenborn considers perhaps the strength of his squad, are seniors Rob Cuba and Mark Buehrle and juniors Wesley Steele and Brian Glosemeyer.

Senior Colin Vandergraf returns in goal and junior Michael Gosche also saw action in the next last season.

"We're looking forward to the season," Wittenborn said. "We should be solid, but there is always a lot of balanced competition in the area."

Notre Dame kicks off the season by hosting its annual tournament next Thursday through Saturday.

Jackson

Coach Bonnie Knowlan is optimistic yet also realistic as the Indians come off their best season ever.

"Last year was just really exciting," said Knowlan. "It was the best season we've ever had and it would be nice to repeat. But we're realistic. We know it will be tough."

The Indians lost 12 seniors from last year's 14-4-6 squad, but they do return some key performers, including senior Nathan Windeknecht, who as a junior broke the school single-season record for goals with more than 20.

Other seniors who return after starting last year are Ben Turner, Chris Kohm and Spencer Knowlan while senior Paul Johns will take over the goalie position after playing in the field last season.

Rounding out Jackson's group of seven seniors are Michael Schemel and Brian Schmid, who both saw limited varsity action last year but are being counted on this season.

Juniors Tyler Stearns, Jimmy Sievers, Matt Diebold, Dustin Adams and Brian Sander all figure to play key roles after moving up from the JV squad while sophomore Roger Dirnberger returns after seeing varsity action as a freshman.

"I think we'll be good, but we're really young," said Knowlan. "We have to replace a lot of key players."

Jackson plays its first match Tuesday by visiting Cape Central.