By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

It’s much better to be the hunter as opposed to being the hunted.

Just ask Dave Robben, head coach of the Oakville Senior High School girls’ soccer team.

“We had always gone into districts as the underdog and this year we went in as the hunted,” Robben told the Call.

The Tigers (19-7, 8-0 Suburban South) entered the District 8 Tournament as the heavy favorite, but found themselves in a slugfest with Fox in the semifinal until junior defender Jackie Roepke hammered in a goal in overtime for a 1-0 victory.

Senior midfielder Megan Brockman received the assist on Roepke’s game winning goal.

“Fox came at us strong and with a solid game plan,” Robben said. “Our conditioning was what became the difference. Fox was well prepared and ready to go.”

Oakville found itself once again in a slugfest in the championship game of districts and wound up suffering a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Rockwood Summit in penalty kicks.

“When a game goes down to penalty kicks, it’s frustrating,” Robben said. “In the first half, we had them running around, trying to find their marks but they were hitting us hard and knocking us off the ball in the second half.”

Despite the loss in districts, the Tigers will have three players participating in the Missouri Athletic Club All Star Game.

Brockman, along with senior goalkeeper Kelly Thouviner and senior defender Ker-ry Westwood, will represent Oakville in the exhibition.

The Tigers will lose six seniors to graduation in Brockman, Thouviner, Westwood and midfielders Calli Fisher, Michelle Sweeny and Alison Jones. Brockman is slated to attend Quincy University while Thouviner and Fisher will be headed to Meramec.

Westwood will head to Lindenwood with Jones going to Elmhurst College. Sweeny is currently considering offers from several schools and has yet to make a decision.

Though they lose a 18 goals and 26 assists from this year’s senior corps, the Tigers are chock full of talent on this year’s team and the junior varsity squad.

Obviously with talent like that waiting in the wings, Robben was quite certain that the Tigers will be back in form for next season.

“I’m really comfortable with our core players that will be returning,” Robben said. “We’ll also have some good JV players that will be moving up next year.”