IAC GIRLS SOCCER: SVEC REGROUPING IN TOUGH DIVISION (2019-08-20)
BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports ReportSPENCER — SVEC will have to learn and grow quickly if it hopes to be competitive this season in a brutal division.
The Eagles are in a very competitive IAC South Large School division with Newark Valley, Waverly and Notre Dame. The defending division and IAC Large School champion Wolverines finished the season ranked 11th in Class B while NV received a Class C honorable mention.
Waverly returns five of its eight division all-stars, while NV and ND return five and four, respectively. Both NV and ND graduated two all-stars apiece.
First-team divisional all-star Ava Bruehwiler, a senior midfielder returns to lead the charge. The Eagles' other all-star, forward Searra Allen, graduated.
"We have to replace seven starters from last year's team," said SVEC head coach Kurt Bastian. The Eagles graduated six players and lost rising senior Paige Grube for the season to an injury. "This accounts for 47 percent of our scoring from last year, and our entire back four," he said.
The upside is the Eagles have a large pool of players in the mix.
"Our numbers are solid right now," Bastian said. "We have 24 girls trying out for the varsity team. Seven of these girls are freshman so we will decide by tomorrow (Wednesday) as to which team they will start the season with (modified or varsity)."
Another positive is the merger of the schools' modified programs at the start of the season. Last year, S-VE and Candor had separate modified teams, but the Panthers struggled with numbers and the teams had to combine part way through the season.
Despite the numbers, there will be a learning curve for Bastian to work with.
"We are fairly young and inexperienced," he said. "However, we are looking to work hard and improve on a daily basis.
"Our goal is to try to find a way to be competitive in these games," Bastian said.
SVEC opens the season Sept. 4 at home against Tioga.<br><br>——————<br><br>PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR
