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Previewing an upcoming season is never an easy task. To do so properly takes countless hours of emails, observations, statistical research, conversation, and reflection. Adding onto that difficulty are challenges, such as a cancelled 2020 season and lingering COVID restrictions, making our preview preparation feel almost impossible.

Despite these obstacles, the approaching 2021 season and its participants – whether that be players, coaches, fans, or families – deserve some semblance of normalcy. Soccer in Nebraska and all those who participate deserve to be promoted. Over the course of the next several weeks, NEST will overview EVERY high school soccer program in our state. This was done to the best of our ability using all of the information we could collect.

Nebraska Soccer Talk is here to support many fantastic teams, coaches, players, fans, and referees that make our game possible. One mission of this venture is to discover and centralize newsworthy information. This can only be done in collaboration with individual programs. As a whole, our sport must better promote itself in order to grow the player and supporter pool. We encourage every team to proudly and consistently advertise itself to us and the general public. The more information available, the more our game will grow. Soccer is a game historically left behind to linger in the background in the United States. That circumstance is changing, but that change will not happen automatically. Growing and covering all aspects of our sport will take effort from all of those who love it.

Disclaimer – To prepare for these articles, a questionnaire was sent to every school’s head coach and athletic director. Many of these questionnaires were returned in a timely fashion, others were not. Nebraska Soccer Talk prides itself on equal and in-depth coverage, but cooperation is needed to meet that goal. Please consider this to be our reasoning when it comes to article length and accuracy.

Lincoln North Star

Head Coach – Ed Meitzen

Players to Watch – 

• Taylor Cumblidge (University of Missouri-Kansas City soccer signee)
• Kate Jones
• Kyler Hahn
• Maram Hadi
• Jaycee McFadden
• Madison Burback
• Smar Khudidah
• Alexis Simmons

State Status – Front Runner, Contender, Dark Horse, Up-And-Coming, Building, Too Early To Tell

NEST Analysis – A very exciting season could be on the horizon for Lincoln North Star. During the 2019 season, a losing record was the final result. Look for that to change as North Star should be favored in many of their match-ups, especially at home. A plethora of talent will occupy the field wearing the blue and burgundy. Taylor Cumblidge will provide a dominating presence in the midfield for the Navigators. Cumblidge occupies a spot on our preseason players to watch list as she is a top 20 talent in the state. Coach Meitzen will have plenty of options as he develops his starting eleven, as you can see from our above list. This is an up-and-coming program that could make unexpected noise at the state tournament in 2021. While they fell just outside of the Top 10 for Class A, Lincoln North Star is a Team on the Verge in our pre-season list.

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or listen to our podcast on Spotify.

Chace Hutchison

Previewing an upcoming season is never an easy task. To do so properly takes countless hours of emails, observations, statistical research, conversation, and reflection. Adding onto that difficulty are challenges, such as a cancelled 2020 season and lingering COVID restrictions, making our preview preparation feel almost impossible.

Despite these obstacles, the approaching 2021 season and its participants – whether that be players, coaches, fans, or families – deserve some semblance of normalcy. Soccer in Nebraska and all those who participate deserve to be promoted. In the following article series, we will reveal our Pre-Season Top 10 rankings for the 2021 season.

This poll was developed while considering many different factors including program track records, recommendations from coaches, and roster strength. With that being said, much of this is subjective and opinions can vary. The rankings will be updated on bi-weekly basis. To the best of our ability, these rankings will reflect the reality of the soccer environment. Adjustments will be made as the season progresses and many conversations will take place. We look forward to those discussions. At season’s end, we will look back to review these pre-season rankings. What did we get right? Where did we go wrong? Which team surprised us all?

Also, included in each article is a section titled Teams on the Verge. These teams ranked just outside our Top 10 but are considered to be in contention. The rankings are fluid and flexible; any team could quickly enter our Top 10 list.

Class A Girl’s Pre-Season List

1. Lincoln East
2. Gretna
3. Papillion-La Vista
4. Omaha Marian
5. Lincoln Southeast
6. Millard West
7. Elkhorn South
8. Papillion-La Vista South
9. Lincoln Southwest
10. Millard North

Teams on the Verge: Kearney, Bellevue West, Lincoln North Star, Millard South, Norfolk, Omaha South, Omaha Westside, Columbus, North Platte

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or listen to our podcast on Spotify.

Chace Hutchison

Although it is rarely covered by the traditional media giants of the state, Nebraska is filled with exciting and competitive collegiate soccer programs. In fact, Nebraska contains a grand total of THIRTY programs for men and women. Those thirty programs compete across a wide variety of collegiate levels including Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and junior college.

Nebraska Soccer Talk is here to examine, cover, and promote all of these teams. This task has been made a bit more challenging by the circumstances created by COVID-19. Depending on the playing level, conference, and school, the season outlook changes drastically. Roster information can also be in flux, depending on the school. Despite these challenges, our staff attempted to put together the best program summaries possible. To our knowledge, we are the only outlet providing such coverage to our state’s college programs.

Just like Nebraska Soccer Talk, this column will grow and become more in depth as the years pass. In the future, we hope to provide sideline coverage of games, facility features, coach and player interviews. We look forward to the journey ahead. Thank you for being a part of our community. The sport of soccer is growing in Nebraska, and we intend to see it thrive.

Disclaimer – In the making of this article, team websites and other research sources were utilized. Although we attempt to avoid them whenever possible, errors can occur. Please contact us directly with corrections.

Hastings College

Head Coach – Jade Ovendale

Assistant Coaches – Bruno Moreira & James Westfield

Mascot – Broncos

Nebraska Homegrown Players On Roster – 

• #3 Rilee Silvain – Fr – Omaha Marian – D
• #5 Katie Heller – Fr – Lincoln East – D
• #6 Hunter Reeves – Jr – Gretna High – F
• #8 Mackenzie McNeel – Fr – Elkhorn South – D
• #17 Ayden Ridder – Fr – Bennington – M
• #20 Miley Prine – Fr – Bennington – F
• #25 Eva Dunker – Fr – Blair – M
• #27 Kelsey Peterson – So – Omaha Roncalli – D
• #30 Sofia Gomez-Garcia – Fr – Columbus – M
• #32 Carolyn Hopkins – Sr – Lincoln East – D
• #34 Lancy Siefken – Fr – Papillion-La Vista South – F

11/31 = 35%

NEST Analysis – Hastings is a highly successful Nebraska based program that has elevated the sport with its wonderful showing on a yearly basis. With so many collegiate women’s programs within our borders, it can be difficult to rise above a crowded field. However, Hastings College has distanced itself from the field. Even better, this success has been accomplished with some of the best homegrown talent Nebraska has to offer. As of right now, 35% of the roster is made up of Nebrakans. The Broncos consistently find talent that fits their culture and buys into the program’s standard. Even more impressive is the fact that the head coaching position is rotating regularly. Credit must be given to the athletic department for seemingly always hitting a home run with their hires. Coach Ovendale is the latest to hold the post and have major success. The season has the Broncos in title contention yet again.

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through multiple different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or listen to our podcast on Spotify.

Chace Hutchison

Previewing an upcoming season is never an easy task. To do so properly takes countless hours of emails, observations, statistical research, conversation, and reflection. Adding onto that difficulty are challenges, such as a cancelled 2020 season and lingering COVID restrictions, making our preview preparation feel almost impossible.

Despite these obstacles, the approaching 2021 season and its participants – whether that be players, coaches, fans, or families – deserve some semblance of normalcy. Soccer in Nebraska and all those who participate deserve to be promoted. Over the course of the next several weeks, NEST will overview EVERY high school soccer program in our state. This was done to the best of our ability using all of the information we could collect.

Nebraska Soccer Talk is here to support many fantastic teams, coaches, players, fans, and referees that make our game possible. One mission of this venture is to discover and centralize newsworthy information. This can only be done in collaboration with individual programs. As a whole, our sport must better promote itself in order to grow the player and supporter pool. We encourage every team to proudly and consistently advertise itself to us and the general public. The more information available, the more our game will grow. Soccer is a game historically left behind to linger in the background in the United States. That circumstance is changing, but that change will not happen automatically. Growing and covering all aspects of our sport will take effort from all of those who love it.

Disclaimer – To prepare for these articles, a questionnaire was sent to every school’s head coach and athletic director. Many of these questionnaires were returned in a timely fashion, others were not. Nebraska Soccer Talk prides itself on equal and in-depth coverage but cooperation is needed to meet that goal. Please consider this to be our reasoning when it comes to article length and accuracy.

Lincoln Southeast

Head Coach Info – Liz Sundberg

Previous Records

State Status – Front Runner, Contender, Dark Horse, Up-And-Coming, Building, Too Early To Tell

Previous Season Accomplishments – 2019 Class A State Qualifier

NEST Analysis – A true battle for Lincoln city supremacy will take place yet again during the 2021 season. Lincoln Southeast is one of two LPS team’s that have a chance to contend for a state title which will add more fuel to their rivalry. The Knights are a highly organized and motivated squad that demonstrates a winner’s edge. Just by watching their warm up, you will understand the previous statement. Coach Sundberg has demonstrated herself to be a true tactician and team builder. A fantastic culture that demands buy-in from every individual has taken root at LSE.  Discovering known game changers and consistent performers will be a vital task for Southeast and a major storyline to watch for Nebraska Soccer Talk. There is faith that those critical pieces can be found in their large player pool. Lincoln Southeast begins the season ranked #5 in our Class A poll.

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or listen to our podcast on Spotify.

Chace Hutchison