The Big Lake boys soccer team is hoping for a successful season. Second-year coach Michael Green feels last year went well for the Hornets.

“I came in knowing I had to build a culture - build a team,” he says. “The focus was keeping the guys together and creating a fun program for them. We did decently. Our numbers have increase, so that tells me I did something right.”

Although they lost six players to graduation, there are quite a few players returning who have experience on the varsity team. Their top scorer, Will Priest, is back and is likely to lead the offense this season.

But their top goalkeeper, Tyler Huver, graduated and was a big reason for the team’s success in the past.

“That’s a big loss. It’s a position we might struggle at this season,” says Coach Green. “We have a couple guys who volunteered to play goalkeeper, so we’re going to coach them and get them prepared for the game.”

Green says the team is motivated but still working on getting fit to play against the competition. He believes they’ll be ready.

“Our scrimmage (last Monday) against Little Falls was a good experience. We tried guys in different positions on varsity and JV,” says Coach Green. “We saw some good things. Now we need to keep them excited and motivated.”

The Hornets opened the season against Legacy Christian Thursday, Hopkins Friday and Sauk Rapids-Rice Saturday, results next week. They play at Spectrum Tuesday.