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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.

North Platte

Head Coach – Daniel Whitney

Previous Records

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

Previous Season Accomplishments – 2019 Class B State Qualifier

NEST Analysis – The Bulldogs of North Platte are ready to compete with the best during the 2021 season. A track record of stellar results has Nebraska Soccer Talk convinced that this is a program ready to make a title run. Most casual soccer observers train their focus on the eastern portion of the state. The misguided assumption is that all of the attention worthy talent can be found in Lincoln or Omaha. However for the more universal fan, a ton of talent can be located many hours west in a town situated alongside I-80. Qualifying for the state tournament in 2019 was a significant achievement. Even so, the Bulldogs are hoping to make that road trip an annual gathering for coaches, players, and supporters.

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.

University of Nebraska-Omaha

Head Coach – Tim Walters

Coach Walters arrived as the head of the program in 2016. Since that time, results have not fulfilled the expectations of a program with UNO’s standing. 2018’s advancement in the Summit league tournament provided a glimmer of progress and optimism for the future. However, it really needed to be followed up with a strong campaign in 2019, and that failed to materialize. Coach Walters seems to be a good candidate for this job, but it does need to be demonstrated by on-field success. From all accounts Coach Walters has been a dedicated and passionate soccer advocate as he honed his skills across many different levels of the game. The next few seasons will be crucial for the direction of his program.

Assistant Coaches – Kelly Farrell, Denzel Woods, Erin Bunker

Mascot – Mavericks

Nebraska Homegrown Players On Roster – 

• #0 Madeline Smith – So – Millard South – GK
• #2 Carly Cameron – RFR – Elkhorn High – GK
• #3 Maria Eubanks – RFR – Lincoln East – D
• #5 Grace Ostergaard – Fr – Millard West – M
• #6 Gracie Parsons – Fr – Omaha Burke – M
• #7 Grace Crockett – Fr – Omaha Marian – D
• #12 Grace Thede – RFr – Omaha Marian – D
• #13 Brylie Meyer – Jr – Lincoln Pius X – D
• #14 Laurin Mertz – So – Omaha Skutt – F
• #17 Mali Seran – RSo – Omaha Skutt – M
• #19 Regan Zimmers RFr – Millard North – M
• #20 Bailey Cascio – Sr – MIllard North – F
• #23 Avery Ripple – RSo – Papillion-LaVista South – D
• #25 Alyssa Hansen – Fr – Lincoln Pius X – M
• #26 Leah Kirchner – Jr – Millard West – D

15/27 = 55%

Known Recruiting Class – 

• Sena Ahovissi – Millard North – D
• Cece Behrens – Omaha Skutt – Mid
• Reagan Bourgeois – Houston, TX – M
• Mia Reedtz Olesen – Denmark – GK
• Mo Gohr – Kansas State / Elkhorn South – F
• Kayla Futakami – Northglenn, CO – F

NEST Analysis – Since its jump to division one athletics in 2011, UNO’s women’s soccer side has struggled to find consistent success. Since 2011, this program has not recorded a winning record. Simply put, that is very surprising given its location, facilities, and local recruiting pool. There have been moments of hope during that time with 2018 being the highlighted year of the Maverick program under Coach Walters. The state and the sport of soccer within our borders need more of that success. Women’s soccer at UNO must elevate itself to being a brand synonymous with winning, advocacy, and an attractive style of play. 

An uptick in local talent acquisition also serves as a point of optimism. Approximately half of the current roster is made up of homegrown Nebraskans, most of which are in their first or second year. Hopefully those players can serve as a launching point for Coach Walter’s program. On a lighter note, if you are a female soccer player that is located in the metro area and named Grace you have a very high chance of playing on this squad.

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

Nebraska Soccer Talk is a newly established outlet that has the sole purpose of covering and promoting soccer within the state of Nebraska.

The NEST is a three-person operation that will be doing their best to cover all teams from the Metro to Scottsbluff and everywhere in-between. The authors/volunteers love this sport and have a genuine desire to grow the game throughout the state.

Follow along with our journey on Twitter or give our podcast a listen on Spotify.

This is a true community effort, so please feel free to contribute! Tips and observations are welcome! Let us know who or where NEST should be looking. Leave a comment below or email at nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com

Chace Hutchison