AREA SOCCER TEAMS CARRY HIGH HOPES INTO 2000 SEASON

The three high school boys soccer teams in the immediate area all posted winning records last season and two of the three captured district titles.

Look for that success to continue this year as Cape Girardeau Central, Notre Dame and Jackson all have high hopes entering the 2000 campaign.

Last year, Notre Dame won its second straight Class 1A-3A district championship while Cape Central captured the 4A district title to break Jackson's two-year stranglehold on the crown.

Following is a look at the three squads as the season gets under way next week.

Cape Central

The Tigers, after a couple of uncharacteristically sub-par seasons, bounced back last year by going 13-11-3 and claiming a district title.

With a host of players who started at least a few games returning, coach Tom Doyle is looking for good things in 2000.

"I definitely have high hopes," he said. "The numbers are there and we have experience. I expect good things to happen."

A whopping 44 players turned out for practice, which represented a good news-bad news situation for Doyle.

"It's great that there is so much interest in the program, but having so many come out meant we had to cut some, which is the worst part of my job," he said.

Among the returning regulars for the Tigers are five seniors and five juniors. The seniors are Matt Brandt, Chris Cole, Matt Davis, Brett McNabb and Paul Miller while the juniors are Trevor Blattner, Eric Daume, Cody Hill, Arthur Pilsner and Jon Mark Thompson. Sophomores Whit Lynn and Chad Proffer also saw some starting action last year.

Blattner is entering his third season as the starting goalkeeper for Central while Cole, McNabb and Thompson were last year's leading scorers.

Four other seniors, who primarily played on last season's JV but figure to add solid varsity depth this year, are John Frank, John Taylor, Jason Kopf and Hoss Hodges. Junior Nathan Foley, who saw mainly JV action with a little varsity play sprinkled in a year ago, adds even more depth, as do fellow juniors Chris Jones and Jordan White, a pair of newcomers.

"Everybody has really been working hard and I'm really pleased with the way things have been going so far," Doyle said.

Central opens the season Tuesday at home against Jackson.

Notre Dame

The Bulldogs have had quite a five-year run, going 96-24-12 during that span. While coach Brad Wittenborn is banking on another solid campaign, he realizes his team faces a big challenge.

"I think this would probably be considered a rebuilding year," Wittenborn said. "We graduated nine starters and nine seniors. I think most people would consider last year's senior class to be our best ever."

But Wittenborn, whose squad was 21-5-1 in 1999, isn't about to give up on plans for a third straight district title. He believes the talent is there, even if the experience is not.

"We'll be young, with just one senior," he said. "But I feel pretty good about the team. It might take us a few games to settle into a lineup, but the skill is there and the attitude is good. I think it's pretty realistic for us to shoot for another district title."

Notre Dame returns five players with considerable varsity experience in senior Nick Kapfer and juniors Scott Wittenborn, Tim Wencewicz, Matt Pobst and Shane Kistner. Kapfer, Wittenborn and Wencewicz all saw at least some starting action last year, with Wittenborn the leading returning scorer after putting in about eight goals.

Three more players received varsity playing time a year ago: junior Tim Buerck and sophomores Tyler Cuba and Jeff Brosey.

A host of other players are being counted on, many of them up from last year's JV squad: Juniors Nathan LeGrand, Dustin Klipfel, Adam Ralls, Andy Arnzen and Paul Unterreiner, along with sophomores Adam Prasanphanich, Dustin Tatum and Travis Siebert. Unterreiner will take over as this year's starting goalie.

"Most of our guys are pretty equal," said Wittenborn. "I think about 16 or 17 guys will be able to help us."

The Bulldogs kick off the campaign Thursday in their own Soccerfest as they take on Farmington. Cape Central and Jackson are also in the eight-team field.

Jackson

Zack Walton, an assistant under Bonnie Knowlan last year, takes over as the Indians' head coach after Knowlan assumed an assistant principal role in the Jackson School District.

Walton, a former collegiate soccer player at Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo., is excited about the opportunity as the Indians try to build on last year's 11-10-5 season that ended with a loss to Cape Central in the district championship game.

"I'm really excited. I'm ready for the year to get started," said Walton. "I expect us to have a pretty solid team. We have a lot of kids who can play different positions, and we have some great leadership with our five seniors, plus our junior bunch coming through is solid.

"I've really been impressed with the way everybody has worked during two-a-days. We're looking forward to it."

The Indians return a host of players with varsity experience, including five seniors. Four of them are returning starters in Jon Coleman, Greg Schwab, Todd Shelton and Justin Vines. The fifth senior, Justin Jones, played primarily JV last year in his first season with the program but Walton said he is ready to make major varsity contributions.

There are three junior returning regulars in Matt Gordon, Patrick Kohm and Michael Schuette while juniors Matt Buttrey, Ryan McClard, Paul O'Brien and Trent Forrester are primed to help out after playing JV a year ago.

Walton will also be looking for contributions from several players from a large sophomore class, including Austin McDowell, Balraj Dirnberger, Matt Neal, Matt Litzelfelner, Stuart Knowlan, Mitchell Casteel, Jeffrey Beck and John Gilman. All were primarily JV players last season.

O'Brien and McDowell, who shared JV goalie duties a year ago, will likely continue in those roles on varsity.

Jackson opens the season Tuesday at Cape Central.