Tag season

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.

Fremont

Head Coach – Charlee Wiese

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

NEST Analysis – The 2021 outlook for Fremont is yet to be determined as there is simply not enough information to make an informed analysis. What can be said is that Fremont is a community that cares deeply about its soccer culture. Fremont Soccer Club provides a myriad of opportunities for local athletes to improve upon their skills. In the program’s recent history, the records have not been favorable. However, in sports all it takes is one year to change the narrative. A concentrated effort from Coach Charlee Wiese and the Tiger players will be needed to progress the program. An opportunity is there for the taking for the older players on the team: leave a legacy of care, determination, and improvement for future classes to build upon. This may be a multi-year project and we look forward to watching this evolution. The Fremont community will embrace a pride-filled program, and that momentum could carry over for years to come.

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

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, 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 Men’s Soccer

Head Coach – Bob Warming

Warming has a great coaching history in the Big Ten. He is a big-time coach, and UNO is fortunate to have him. Warming took over in 2018, and we can see if his previous success eventually applies to UNO. As of right now, the roster has been overturned with many transfers in the last year, and the honeymoon period is coming to an end. UNO is one of two D1 men’s programs in the state, which automatically makes it a flagship. In order for soccer to grow in Nebraska, the state has to have success at the highest of levels.

Assistant Coaches – Grant Warming, Ugo Tritz

The assistant coaches are relatively inexperienced at this level and are assisted by a close relationship with the head man. Both were successful college players, hopefully it translates into the coaching sphere. Kudos to Warming for giving young coaches a chance – time to prove him right.

Mascot – Mavericks

Nebraska Homegrown Players On Roster – 

• #2 Stevie Siy – Omaha Central – Sr – D
• #6 Ed Gordon – Creighton Prep – Sr – Mid
• #15 Zion Osorio – Lincoln East – So – D
• #16 Mauricio Felix-Alvarado – Omaha South – Fr. – D
• #19 Michael Monico – Gross Catholic – So – Mid
• #24 Gonzalo Ledesma – South Sioux City – R-Sr – D
• #26 Youde (Junior) Noutoua – Creighton Prep – Jr – Mid
• #29 Jonathan Lopez – Millard South – Sr. – Mid

8/24 = 33%

NEST Analysis – There are ten transfers now on the roster – eight of those are from a JuCo or lower level squad. That is a major shake up in a short amount of time for Warming’s squad. Hopefully they are correct in their evaluation process. This is a team that made the NCAA tournament in 2017 which is right where this program should be. That is the expectation, but we will see if year three is when everything clicks.

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, 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 or listen to our podcast on Spotify.

Chace Hutchison