Dogie men set to kick off season with 26 on board

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
After a year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Dogie soccer team is gearing up for their 2021 season. There are several players returning from the spring of 2019, but at the helm are two new coaches. Elyse Dickey and Sally Hoover took the reins for a week last year, but had to postpone their debut as head coach and assistant coach respectively.
“It’s great to have quite a few guys who have varsity experience, and we have good numbers so that’s awesome as well,” Dickey began. “The first week of practice has been good and we’ve been able to be outside on the field four of the five days, which is a change from the last two years when the fields have been buried in snow.”
There are 26 young men who will be taking the pitch this season including five seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores and a large crew of 11 freshmen.  
Gavin Gray, Carson Bock, Dayton McFarland, Kalen Koch, and Kayne Hinshaw are the seniors, with Gray, Bock and McFarland returning from the varsity squad in 2019.  
Juniors are Ezra Anderson, Aidan and Avery Chick, Zade Orsborn, Cael Holmes, Hayden Overman and Mathew Drake who is new to soccer, while Heath Henkle, Yeston Davis and Dylan McFarland make up the sophomore crew.
The freshmen are a strong group who Dickey anticipates will contribute quickly to the high school program.
“The freshmen have played rec and indoor so they have a lot of experience, which will be great for us,” she nodded. “We also have some good talent and experience in our upperclassmen. They are all working hard and are open to the new conditioning and drills we’ve been throwing at them so that is great.”
Dickey feels confident regarding the skill and experience of her backfield to protect the goal, therefore she is looking to run a 4-3-3 formation where she pulls a third player into the forward/striker position to give her team an edge on offense. 
“We have good depth defensively, and a lot of our guys ran cross country so that really helps with the endurance needed at the midfield,” she nodded. “We also have quite a few who can play in a couple of different positions so that will give us some flexibility regarding the roles our guys can fill.”
The Dogies lost their goalie to graduation, but there are quite a few young players willing and able to step into that vital role.
William Beastrom as a freshman will be a good option as will sophomore Dylan McFarland. Both of these young men have the advantage of length to bring to the position, but Heath Henkle is also in the running. 
“It’s great because I’m not used to having a huge group of guys who want to, and are able to, play in the goal,” Dickey laughed. “Since we have enough guys to fill a JV and a varsity team, that will give us a chance to see what several different players can do in the net.”
Aside from a couple of activity conflicts, Dickey has had most of her players present for practice in the first week, and she is liking what she is seeing from her squad.
“We’ve worked on a lot of control and possession drills this week and they are talking pretty well,” she nodded. “We are also doing a couple of morning runs to try to get in shape and that is going well, too, so I’m pretty excited to see what we can do in a game.”
Rawlins, Torrington, Riverton, Buffalo, Douglas and Newcastle make up the 3A East Conference and in order to advance to the state tournament, the Dogies must finish the season in the top four based on their record as there is no play-in, or regional competition to determine state qualifiers. 
Before the all-important conference record contest begins, the Dogies have the opportunity to shake the rust off this Friday in Scottsbluff, Neb., with games kicking off at 4 p.m.