Sports
Soccer: Orchard Farm Juniors Robbers, Liston Are Key to Success of Team
Soccer team hopes to improve on 14-10-1 record last year.
Orchard Farm High School
Team Name: Eagles
2010 Record: 14-10-1 (first Eastern MO Conference)
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Head Coach: Brandon Cox
Preseason Ranking: Ranked eighth in state at the end of last season.
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Key Positions: Goalkeeper: Junior Corrin Scriber returns in net. Defenders: Sweeper Casey Mann is a freshman and a great talent. Senior captain Casey Kesselheim will help lead the young defense. Scorers: Juniors Brooke Burkhardt and Alexis Robbers led the team in scoring last season and are keys to success of the season with Robbers breaking the school's scoring record with 27 goals, and senior center midfielder Andrea Liston set the assist record last year.
Expectations: Cox said the team did lose some quality players last year, but has a strong core of players. "We always are trying to compete for the top spot and give our best effort, but more importantly are trying to have fun while competing," he said.
Key games: The biggest rivals are Christian High and Lutheran St. Charles. The Eagles hope to beat Trinity High School which ended their season last year.
Christian High School: 4:15 p.m. April 5 (home)
Lutheran St. Charles High School: 4:15 p.m. March 21 (away)
Overview:
The Eagles are looking to come back from a difficult district final loss in double overtime to Trinity to have another solid season. They lost some key players, but retained a large core of players and will have a plethora of senior leadership, which is shown with Cox's decision to pick four captains in senior Casey Kesselheim, senior Andrea Liston, junior Brooke Burkhardt and junior Alexis Robbers.
With record breaking seasons out of Andrea Liston for assists and Alexis Robbers for goals, Cox hopes the girls can set team records for both scoring and goals allowed.
They key to the season won't be about any one individual, Cox said.
"Like last year, our success is dependent on our ability to play as a team," he said. "We have some key positions to replace like sweeper and goalkeeper, but I expect us to be just as skilled on the field this year."
The team's first game of the season is at Lutheran St. Charles High School at 4:15 p.m. March 21.