The North Posey girls’ soccer team will be very experienced this year.

That’s the good news, according to coach Pleasant Dike. The bad news is that the Lady Vikings have some key spots to fill up the middle.

"We have 11 seniors returning," Dike said. "That is a real strong number. However, we lost four seniors who played central, key positions like center-midfield, sweeper and stopper, so right down the middle we’ll have to see who can step in and fill those positions."

There are also seven freshmen on the Lady Vikings’ roster and Dike is looking forward to seeing where they fit in.

Most of the seniors back from last year have played together for a while and are going to know each other, Dike said, making their experience a strength. The team came together last season, passed the ball more often and communicated better as the season progressed.

For all their senior experience, one big strength for North Posey could be junior goalkeeper Megan Plouchard, who made the All-PAC team least season.

Plouchard and sophomore Nicole Perry (another All-PAC pick) have greatly improved over the course of the pre-season, Dike said.

They are two of the four all-convergence players back. Amanda Martin will be back at wide midfield, while Abby Creek will start out at sweeper as Dike tries to fill that hole.

Bosse and Princeton should be among the strongest competition North Posey faces this season, along with Gibson Southern.

"I don’t know for sure (about the competition)," the coach said. "A lot of the teams that we’ve heard of have lost a lot of seniors."

The Lady Vikings won a Sectional game for the first time in the program’s history and Dike felt that gave the season a positive note on which to end, but she also said that the players were disappointed by a tough loss to Princeton in the Sectional semifinals.

"I’d love to see us back in Sectionals again," she said. "Get another win there. That was a positive way to end the year by winning a Sectional game, but it was also disappointing in that they’d like a shot at winning another Sectional game."