The more things change, the more they stay the same.

At least that seems to be the philosophy of Chesterton girls soccer coach David Galloway as the 2012 season begins tonight at Michigan City.

“I’m very optimistic about this season because of the returning senior and junior group, along with some freshman and sophomores that can help us,” Galloway said. “We’ll continue the Chesterton soccer tradition. We expect every year to challenge for the top spot in the area and the Duneland Conference.”

The calling card of this Trojan team may be in the defensive third where Chesterton returns a core group of defenders, including goalkeeper Alex Bucko.

“Defensively, I think we’ll be very good with Alex Bucko in goal,” Galloway said. “She’ll do a solid job for us and in front of her we return Angie Jeka, Ciera Brown and a move-in Sara Tumbas. Kristin Mabry will see some time there and a couple of other kids too.”

The Trojans offense could be a problem as they try to replace 40 goals.

“I think the problem is trying to replace the almost 40 goals we lost from last year,” Galloway said. “Bridget Brendza is obviously going to be significant force for us this year. She’s actually picked up right where she left off last year and may even be more dangerous. She’ll be marked a little bit more than last year and utilize her speed and talent.

“Nikki Kollar, Dayna Gallo along with midfielders Elizabeth Benson, Madisyn Coudriet, Bethany Molnar can all help us take care of that hopefully.”

The Trojans should also get help from speedsters (sophomore) Tia Peters and (senior) Claire Brady.

“Tia Peters is a sophomore I’m expecting good things from,” Galloway said. “She certainly could help us out. Claire Brady has great speed and we’re looking for a place to utilize that.”

Chesterton will field a varsity team of 16 on opening night, but that number will grow as the season goes on thanks to a talented freshman and sophomore class.

“There are some freshman and sophomores we have that have been playing the game for quite a while and are pretty talented,” Galloway said. “We’ve got 16 field players on the varsity and 24-25 kids on the JV. At some point, some of those JV kids will be moved up just because of numbers. It’s hard to believe you can go through a schedule like we have without getting beat up a little.

“We’ll need some of those other kids.”

The Trojans will find out right away just where they stand. After facing the Wolves tonight, they head to South Bend for the St. Joe Indian Invitational on Friday and Saturday where they will face Hamilton Southeastern, Carmel and Mishawaka Marian.

“We will find out in the first week of the season how good we are,” Galloway said.

Posted 8/14/2012