With more than half of the squad being underclassmen, youth is the driving force of the Waterloo High School soccer program.

But the Bulldogs do have several seniors to lean on this fall, providing optimism for a winning campaign.

Waterloo went 5-9 this spring, which was its first losing season since 2012. 

Bulldogs head coach Chad Holden is eager to have his team show that the rare losing season was a fluke.

“We have a lot of really exciting young talent coming up,” he said. “Out of our 50 players, 32 of them are freshman or sophomores. So, our future looks really bright. We currently do have eight seniors, though, and they are ready to hopefully get a full season in this year.”

Returning varsity players who are seniors are defenders Blake Kloeppel, Bryce Kollack and Ian Schrader, midfielders Aidan Brown, Zach Lenz and Nick Mueller, and forward Jake Cooling.  

Cooling recorded six goals and two assists last season. Lenz scored two goals and had three assists.

Another returning player who did not play for Waterloo last season is Christian Schramm, Holden said. 

Juniors who saw action for the Bulldogs last season are goalie Jacob Charron and midfielders Brayden Lacroix and Henry Huels.

Charron posted a 5-5 record with 75 saves in net this past spring for the Bulldogs.

Returning sophomores who saw a lot of action as freshmen last year, according to Holden, are Brenden Eschmann, Grant Eugea, Isaac Lohman and Eli Schwehr.  

“Although young, we feel we can compete with anyone and can’t wait to get this season going,” Holden said. “We will be back on our turf field, which is also very exciting.”

Damage to the WHS turf field last year forced the soccer program to play on the old grass field along Rogers Street.

Holden said the Mississippi Valley Conference will feature some tough opponents this fall, with Triad and Civic Memorial bringing back most of their players from successful spring campaigns. 

“Our conference will be very competitive this year,” Holden assessed. 

Waterloo opened its season Tuesday at Belleville East and hosts Mater Dei on Thursday before Monday’s cross-town showdown with Gibault.