Blue Dragon soccer looks for another strong season

By The Collegian staff

All the Hutchinson Community College soccer team lost from last season was this – goal-scoring machine Jordan Downing, who notched a school-record 44 goals last year, and Jazmin Hartshorn, who was a rare 20-20 player with 20 goals and 22 assists.

Is a rebuilding year inevitable. Don’t bet on it.

The Blue Dragons, 17-2 last season, open their season at 5 p.m. Friday at home, and they should have plenty of firepower, new and returning.

Start with sophomore midfielder Sheena Nicol. The Scotland native plays with the strength of a cement truck and the finesse of a ballerina. She had a sensational freshman year with 29 goals and 14 assists.

Irish defender Chloe Flynn also returns, as does midfielders Emilee Kreibiel and Jayde Miyamoto, defender Kaitlyn Moore and goalkeeper Ashley Main.

A promising freshman class joins them, led by local product Brailey Moeder. Defender Kaelee Kimmel is a Wichita South product who won a state wrestling title last winter.

Coach Sammy Lane, the only coach in team history, has never had a losing record, has won at least 10 games every season and has five losses in a season just twice, which both came in the first three seasons of the program’s existence.

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