By Dale Miller
dale.miller@theindependent.com

The Islanders hope the payoff for those rough times comes this season.

Now Grand Island is a veteran squad, and it hopes that results in a turnaround in its record.

"We have almost our entire team back," Islander coach Chuck DeWitt said. "Heidi Foland was the only starter that graduated. We have a lot of experience coming in.

"We have five seniors who have played all four years and a really strong sophomore class that got their experience last year. They're ready to step up."

Seniors Alex Miller, Hannah Gappa, Gabby Ayala and Emalie Clement have been starting since their freshmen season.

Juniors Mikayla Walsh and Anna Srivisay are also key players back who hope to send the Islanders onto the winning path.

"We've been 5-10 four years in a row," DeWitt said. "A lot of games in those four years, looking back, we should have been more competitive. We should have won a lot of them. (The players) understand that at this point.

"They have a lot of playing time in soccer and have played competitively. They want to win. There are a lot of mental aspects in the game. I hope we get past that."

And it will be tough to replace the one graduated senior. Foland provided the Islanders with a consistent scoring threat.

"Losing Heidi Foland puts a lot of pressure on the other girls," DeWitt said. "They always looked at her to be our top scorer. We need someone to fill that forward position."

Although the experience level is higher, the difficulty of the schedule isn't any lower.

"It's the same as always," DeWitt said. "We have (Lincoln) East (Thursday) with (Lincoln) Southeast on Tuesday. East is always tough. Southeast is coming off a good year. They're kind of like we are. They graduated one senior. It'll be a battle to start. It always is."

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, at Hastings Invite.