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 four articles, NEST will recognize many outstanding athletes that everyone should look forward to seeing on the pitch.

This list was put together using several resources such as coach recommendations, past all-state lists, statistical analysis from previous seasons, and observational research. The inclusions vary greatly in terms of location, age, and future plans. The listed athletes live in every corner of the state from Omaha to Scottsbluff. Many have signed or are committed to play soccer at the Division I level, while others are pursuing other interests in the future.

Even so, there are two traits that all inclusions of the inaugural NEST Players to Watch preview have in common.

1. Show stopping and jaw dropping ability on the field.
2. An admirable love for the sport of soccer. With their ability, passion, and outreach, this game will grow; that is the ultimate goal of Nebraska Soccer Talk.

A special congratulations to all of the athletes. Your hard work, skill, and dedication deserve to be recognized. Nebraska Soccer Talk will be observing closely as your season and career progress.

Class B – Girls

Players are not ranked, instead listed alphabetically by first name.

1. Abbey Schwarz
   • High School: Omaha Roncalli
   • Class of 2021
   • Future Plans: University of Nebraska-Lincoln soccer signee
2. Cece Behrens
   • High School: Omaha Skutt
   • Class of 2021
   • Future Plans: University of Nebraska-Omaha soccer signee
3. Deja Daniels
   • High School: Bennington
   • Class of 2021
4. Ellie Hutsell
   • High School: Aurora
   • Class of 2022
5. Emma Caito
   • High School: Omaha Mercy
   • Class of 2021
   • Future Plans: University of Minessota State-Moorehead soccer signee
6. Emma Foote
   • High School: Scottsbluff
   • Class of 2021
   • Future Plans: Hastings College volleyball signee
7. Hanna King
   • High School: Elkhorn High
   • Class of 2021
   • Future Plans: South Dakota State University soccer signee
8. Jenna Hotovy
   • High School: Omaha Skutt
   • Class of 2021
   • Future Plans: South Dakota State University soccer signee
9. Lauren Stull
   • High School: Lincoln Lutheran/Raymond Central
   • Class of 2021
   • Future Plans: Hastings College soccer signee
10. Leah Rasmussen
    • High School: Waverly
    • Class of 2021
11. Madison Smith
    • High School: Omaha Duchesne
    • Class of 2021
    • Future Plans: Benedictine College
12. Mia Hurt
    • High School: Bennington
    • Class of 2022
13. Sydney Herren
    • High School: Omaha Gross Catholic
    • Class of 2021

Once again, congratulations to the above athletes for all of their accomplishments. Your future in the game of soccer is incredibly bright.

Additionally, it must be mentioned that this is not intended to be an all encompassing or complete list. There are a great number of talented soccer players in Nebraska that we have simply not discovered yet. As the 2021 season gets underway, those athletes will be seen and recognized. That is truly the whole point of Nebraska Soccer Talk.

If you are a soccer player or know of a soccer player that should be on our radar, feel free to contact us. NEST is always looking to cover more soccer and add to our lists.

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of our 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. 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 East

Head Coach Info – Emily Mathews

Previous Records

Players to Watch

• Haley Peterson – University of Nebraska-Lincoln soccer signee
• Briley Hill – University of Nebraska-Lincoln soccer signee
• Annie Mulder – Kansas State University soccer commit
• Olivia Kugler

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

Previous Season Accomplishments – 2019 Class A State Semi-Finalists

NEST Analysis – Coach Mathews should be incredibly excited about her team’s prospects in 2021. This is a program that has been building and all of that work has been aimed towards this upcoming year. It appears that a “golden generation” type of situation is taking place within the Lincoln East program. A returning triple threat of Haley Peterson, Briley Hill, and Annie Mulder have the Spartans poised for a momentous campaign. All three of those talented players are committed to play for high level Division I programs. Even though Class A was a difficult field to choose from due to the fact there are many talented players and teams throughout the state this year, Lincoln East claims the top spot in the NEST pre-season rankings. The Spartans will begin the season ranked #1 in Class A, and they are considered to be the favorites for the state title. High expectations can be a blessing and a curse for any program. Challenges will surface, but the best teams are able to overcome those obstacles.

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