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Grand Island Senior High boys soccer coach Jeremy Jensen is encouraged by what's he's seen in practices leading up to Thursday's season opener at Lincoln East.
But he also knows that good play in practice doesn't always carry over to games.
"Practices have gone well, but from my experience here I don't know what to expect until the bullets are for real," he said.
The Islanders will get a good idea of where they stand against East, a team that has played in five of the past six Class A championship games.
"It'll be one hard test," Jensen said. "When I say we open with Lincoln East, people will say 'that stinks.' But as a coach I like it. We'll get a tough test and it'll be barometer of where we're at."
Having plenty of experience is encouraging to Jensen.
"We have a lot of kids back from last year's team," he said. "We only lost one player who played a significant role.
"Three-quarters of the team played varsity last year."
Most of the experience comes at the defender position, which Jensen feels should be a strength of the team. Seniors Derek Beisner and Ky Mulholm will anchor that defense.
The Islanders aren't as experienced up front, but Jensen feels several younger players show strong potential.
Paul Clement returns after playing at a number of positions as a freshman. He'll start as a midfielder and also see dome time at forward.
"He's a young kid I hope develops," Jensen said. "He could be one of the best players in the state.
"We'll need our front five to generate our offense. We're lacking experience there, but I hope we find some young kids with a goal-scoring touch."
If that happens, the Islanders could achieve some lofty goals.
"We want to improve our record from last year, which should not be tough to do," Jensen said. "We want to win our district or get a wild card and get to Omaha for the state tournament.
"Last year we raised some money and took the team to the state championship so they would experience what it is like to be there. It opened some eyes. Ultimately that's our goal."
Schedule
March13, at Lincoln East; 18, at Lincoln Southeast; 20, Lincoln Northeast; 25, Grand Island Northwest; 27, Lincoln High.
April1, at Hastings; 3, at North Platte; 8, Columbus; 10, at Kearney; 14, Lincoln North Star; 15, at Norfolk; 22, Fremont; 26, Grand Island Invite.
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