The future may be bright for the Effingham County Lady Rebels soccer team.
Their 2007 season ended Thursday night with a 10-0 loss to No. 5- ranked Greenbrier in the Region 3-AAAA playoffs — the Lady Wolfpack (15-2) have outscored their foes 61-2 in nine region games — but the Lady Rebels will bring back the bulk of a squad that went 4-8-1.
“We have four juniors,” coach Tesh Wiewel said, “but we had a lot of freshmen show up this year and a few of them played varsity.”
The Lady Rebels will lose three seniors, Raechal Walters, Erika Payne and Kristen Mileski, who was one of their top scoring threats. Korie VanCuren and Ashley Kohler lead a contingent of juniors, and the Lady Rebels also relied heavily on a large sophomore class, including keeper Kristin Burgstiner. Lauren Spradley, Sarah Quarterman, Kayla English, Alyx Pitts and Kassie Richbourgh also are expected to return.
Freshman Tiffany Johnson also saw plenty of playing time.
Yet there remains some work to be done, especially in getting the bulk of the players more skilled.
“We’ll have the experience,” Wiewel said. “We’ll need the talent to have what we’re trying to tell them sink in.”