STAC GIRLS SOCCER: WAVERLY'S HOGAN PIECING ROSTER 'PUZZLE' TOGETHER AS PREPARATION FOR 2025 SEASON BEGINS (14 PHOTOS) (2025-08-18)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportWAVERLY — Veteran Waverly girls soccer coach Tara Hogan is busy trying to put the puzzle that is Wolverine team together as preparation for the 2025 season gets underway.
"I'm always excited to get on the field this time of year, especially since the weather is so nice, and the week looking forward is looking really good," said Hogan.
And, I'm excited because we had a really busy summer," she noted. "We had a scrimmage against Elmira last week, we did our summer camp again this year, and we had open fields sprinkled in throughout the summer.
"So yeah, I'm always looking forward to this," Hogan added.
Hogan is pleased with her numbers as preseason camp opens.
"We are sitting at 20, a solid 20 right now," she said. "And, the good news is I saw each and every one of them at one point throughout the summer, whether it was at the scrimmage, the camp, or one of the open fields.
And, the girls who weren't here a lot were busy with other sports," added Hogan. "It's a good turn out this year, and a good group."
The Wolverines also have five players up from the modified team.
"We have five new faces this year, five freshmen."
Hogan always works on getting game-ready during the preseason, but this year she has other things on her mind, while her team works on its cardio conditioning.
"I always feel like I say the same thing, but endurance is falling into second right now.
"I think my biggest focus is putting this puzzle together," said Hogan. "I feel like I have the biggest puzzle yet this summer, having lost two forwards (Kiley Stillman and Loralye Anthony) and two midfielders (Addison Westbrook and Brinn Cooney).
"We have big shoes to fill.
"I told the girls first thing this morning, we don't need defenders, we need forwards and midfielders," noted Hogan. "We need people who can score, we need shooters, people who can score because if you look at our games from last year, a lot of them were one-goal games.
"We have a couple of those girls in Makenzie Olmsted and Maci Wheeler, but they are also amazing defenders, and I don't know if I can afford to move them," added Hogan. "The good news is we have time to figure it out."
Waverly will host a four-team scrimmage with Tioga, O-M and Horseheads on Aug. 26 at Memorial Stadium.
The Wolverines, who won their first-ever Section IV title last year, open the season at home against Norwich on Aug. 28 at 2 p.m.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly coach Tara Hogan. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly junior Makenzie Olmsted. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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