TROY – The Franklin Monroe and Greenville girls soccer teams got some preseason action this past weekend as they both competed in the Troy Soccer Summer Preview.
Both teams played four games in the two-day shootout with Franklin Monroe facing Hayes, Kenton Ridge, Shawnee and Tecumseh while Greenville faced Milford, Northmont, Tippecanoe and Troy.
“I think we look OK,” Franklin Monroe varsity coach Scott Howell said after his team’s opener against Kenton Ridge. “We look like we should the first game of the shootout.”
Franklin Monroe’s number of players has increased this year with Howell saying he expects to have 16 to 18 players on the Jets’ roster. The team should include seven seniors and five or six new players, providing a good mix of experience and talented newcomers.
“I think we’re going to be really balanced,” Howell said. “We should be on a positive note, I think.”
Not all of the Jets’ players were in attendance for the shootout, and the team had players move around and try different positions on the field. The experience was good, though, Howell said as Franklin Monroe tries to learn what it has for the upcoming season.
The game against Kenton Ridge provided exactly what Howell wanted to see in the shooutout.
“We want it to be tight,” he said. “We don’t want to get beat by five and we don’t want to win by five.”
Franklin Monroe is in the process of renovating its soccer field so there’s a lot of excitement about the upcoming season.
“The kids have lots of energy, the coaches have a lot of energy, and we’re getting a new field so the community has a lot of energy,” Howell said. “We’re really excited about what’s going on.”
Greenville will have new leadership this season with former assistant coach Jason Arnold replacing Steve Shepard as the varsity head coach.
