Girls soccer preview
By Jane Palen
Managing Editor
The CHS girlsí soccer team is showing a lot of enthusiasm in practice and the girls are eager to begin their season on Saturday against Austin, according to Coach Sue Link.

Several of the girls played summer soccer, but are still excited about the varsity season, said Link. Her challenge in the preseason has been to determine positions and decide who to bring up to varsity. A total of 45 girls in grades 7-12 are out for soccer, and a lot will play both varsity and junior varsity.

Link said sheís working on getting the girls to finish their shots and cross the ball so they can play both sides of the field. Link has always been a believer in conditioning, and that hasnít changed this year.

ìI want them to be first to the ball,î she said. Conditioning also helps their endurance.

The defense looks strong and is close to what the team fielded last year, said Link. There are many returning letter winners, and only two seniors were lost through graduation.

Communication is another strong point the team has, said Link.

The position of goalie has not been decided. Possible choices are Jane Petit, Ellen Klug, Kendra Rohrer and Nathalie Besse.

Link believes that the teams to beat this year are once again Rochester Lourdes and La Crescent. La Crescent is fielding a very quick team this year, said Link, and some of her players played summer soccer with La Crescent players. The August 30 game against Lourdes will be the ìbenchmarkî of the season, said Link. That game is at home and the varsity match begins at 5 p.m.

The team opens against Austin on Saturday in an away game.

Boys soccer

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Defense. Experience. Beautiful.

Those were three of the first words that head coach Tom Krinke used when describing his 2005 Caledonia High School boys soccer team.

The program excelled last year finishing second in the Section 1A tournament to Rochester Lourdes.

Defense got them there. The Warriors allowed only eight goals in 20 games. ìIt was the fifth fewest all time in a season in the state,î Krinke said.

All the defenders are back, and goalie Lucas Nelson is four shutouts away from the all-time state record. Only three seniors were on the squad last year. That team also finished third in the state academically, a fact that Krinke is very proud of.

Returning senior letter winners are Allen Bauer, defender; Craig Halverson, midfielder; Luke Nelson, goalie; Tyler Schulte, defender; and Adam Zard, forward.

Junior letter winners are Seth Danielson, midfielder; Eric Fisch, midfielder; Alex Guillien, defender; Jake Hanson, forward; Zach Rollins, defender; and Kaleb Schmitz, midfielder.

Ryan Cody, defender, is the returning sophomore letter winner.

Other contenders for the team this year will be junior Michael Wagner, defender; sophomores Jackson Huus, midfielder, Chad Lampert, midfielder, and Brad Hesse, midfielder; and freshmen Jordan Becker and Collin Gluch.

ìBeautiful,î Krinke said about that depth, which includes 35 participants in varsity and junior varsity.

Experience is the key to the team this year, he feels. ìAnd the fact that we are returning basically a full team,î Krinke said. It will be a battle for kids to break into the rotation, he added

ìThe guys that donít make it are going to be the first subs,î Krinke said.

He also predicts that Caledonia will have an excellent JV team. Their coach Tim Hoch, is new this year. ìSo weíre looking for big things from them,î Krinke said.

There is even a strong seventh grade class, with six participants. Krinke thanked the Caledonia youth soccer organization for that kind of enthusiasm. ìThey are turning out good players and good kids. I respect what theyíre doing. Without them we donít get the players,î Krinke said.

Locally, the toughest competition will come from La Crescent, a team with a lot of experience too, Krinke said. ìOur boys play with them in the summer, so they know what theyíve got and we know what weíve got. Those games are going to be great battles.î

Onalaska and Winona Cotter will be strong too, he added.

Caledonia is in the Wisota Bridges conference with La Crescent, West Salem, and Coulee Christian, West Salem.

Winona Cotter is another strong team in the same section. They had a strong JV program last year.

ï First games: Caledoniaís season starts with home games on August 27 against Austin, August 29 against Coulee Christian, and August 30 against Onalaska.

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