The Oakville High School girls soccer team will be starting fresh this spring.

Last year’s 16-5 record is in the past, as the Tigers lost 12 seniors to graduation. Despite an almost all new cast, the fire is still there for the young Tigers.

“We are young this year after losing 12 seniors and so we are rebuilding and finding our identity,” coach Sarah Guenther said. “There are a lot of hungry rookies on our team this year that are willing to do what it takes to be varsity players.”

Three seniors return for the Tigers: Defender Abby Wiedermann, defender/midfielder Bella Novak and goalkeeper Sydney Baker.

Guenther will also be looking at some fresh faces as contributors this season: Alivia Schur, Olivia Romano, Ashley Forbest and Aubree Pikul.

While the majority of the team may be young, Guenther said it doesn’t lack tenacity.

“Loads of heart and grit to get the job done,” she said. “This is a very coachable group.”

Another positive that the young Tigers bring to the table is the team is in great shape.

“Fitness, as we are young and have a lot of fight,” Guenther said. “Speed will be our weapon.”

The big key to the season will be if the Tigers can find an identity coming together as one. 

“This is the first time the majority of our team has ever played together,” Guenther said. “We will have to work on, finding leadership, not just from our veterans, and staying connected on and off the field.”

Looking at the schedule, Oakville is already eying a rematch with Jackson, the team that knocked the Tigers out of the postseason the last two seasons.

“They have ended our season the past two years in the district championship game,” the Oakville coach said. “We are looking forward to any conference match, and definitely ‘The Battle of the O’ against O’Fallon on April 30.”

As the season progresses, Guenther is hoping her team will come together and use each game as a learning experience to continue to build the winning tradition of Oakville soccer.

“I just hope we can evolve into a true team, and like I said previously, find out who we are as a team and the roles each player will take on,” she said. “This will help us rebuild into the contending program we typically are in the area. All of our levels this year are young, but that tells you how strong our program is. There are a lot of programs out there that cannot roster freshman or even junior varsity level teams because of the lack of player interest. We do not have that problem here at OHS and I am extremely proud of that.”