Lady Hounds could contend for Southeast title again

FORT MADISON - There is no question that Fort Madison’s girls soccer team can score goals.
So the biggest concern for coach Carrie Burken was finding someone to stop the opposing team’s shots.
The Bloodhounds went 11-4 last season, with 10 of those wins coming on shutouts with Taylor Johnson in her third season as goalkeeper. But Johnson graduated, and Burken came into the season unsure who her goalkeeper would be.
Sophomore Ellie Hellman stepped up.
“She was like, hey, it’s really not my position, but I’ll try it,” Burken said. “And I really appreciated that.”
The Bloodhounds have had just a couple of weeks of practice to get ready for Monday’s season opener at Macomb, and Burken likes how Hellman has learned the position.
“She just needs experience,” Burken said. “Goalkeeper takes a lot of reps to get comfortable — the positioning, when to come out, things like that. So it’s going to take her some time.”

Beyond that position, though, the Bloodhounds have plenty of experience, which make them contenders for the Southeast Conference title after finishing second last season with an 8-2 record, with both losses coming to conference champion Burlington.
The 25-player roster has eight freshmen, which means most of the players know what Burken expects.
“I think it’s understanding what I emphasize — communication, passing, movement,” Burken said of the experience. “Those are the three things I really want us to be at our best at. So that allows me to work more with the freshmen, get them better prepared, because the older players, they understand the drills, they know how to do them.”
Fort Madison has plenty of offensive threats, even with the loss of Natalie Randolph, who had 21 goals last season. Hadley Wolfe, who led the Bloodhounds with 23 goals last season, is back, as is Teagan Snaadt, who had 21 goals. Kara Lake, who had two goals last season, will have a bigger role at the front of the Bloodhounds’ attack.
Halle Menke (2 goals, 10 assists last season), who is a captain along with Wolfe, anchors the middle along with Reilynn Turnbull (7 goals, 11 assists) and Emma Snaadt (4 goals). The back line has sophomore Charley Huebner, sophomore Adalyn Kruse, and seniors Bailey Vaughn and Naomi Ramatowski.
“I think our numbers this season are probably the highest in program history,” Burken said. “Everyone who came back from last year, you can tell how much better they have gotten. And I like our freshmen, they’re going to help us out this season.”
The Bloodhounds get six matches in the first 16 days of the season, so they will get tested early.
“The big thing for this group is possession — we need to keep possession of the ball just to be successful,” Burken said. “No turnovers, so we’re not putting pressure on our defense, pressure on the goalkeeper. If we can do that, we’ll have a good season.”