MONROE — Hannah Ormson takes over as varsity coach for the Monroe girls soccer team this spring. Former coach Samathan Rudi left her position late in the offseason, with Ormson, an assistant last year, picked to take over.

“We are losing an irreplaceable coach,” Ormson said of Rudi. “Coach Rudi has left large shoes to fill and the team has felt that in this turbulent preseason time.”

In 2021, the Cheesemakers went just 1-9 overall and 0-7 in the Badger South. Low on numbers, Monroe could only field a varsity team, and then half the team graduated after the season, including its leading scorer.

However, Ormson, an Elementary Spanish teacher in the district, helped bring in a bevy of newcomers into the program for the 2022 campaign. The program entered spring practice with nearly 40 players, more than enough to field both a varsity and junior varsity squad — with spare space to boot.

“My goal for this team is to come together as a blended family. We are in the unique position where many of our athletes are Spanish speakers. With this bilingual presence on the field I have high expectations that the style and attitude of our current game will change in a positive way,” Ormson said. “I have high expectations for the girls when it comes to community involvement, grades, and character.  We will be looking for ways to give back to our community and the programs that helped the girls on their journey.”

She said one of the team’s challenges will be overcoming the loss of so many seniors that were experienced on the pitch, as well as simply being experienced leaders.

“We lost many seniors last season who knew how to use their voice on the field to lead the rest of the team. With the loss of our leading attacker and center defender we will be looking for new girls to fill the gaps,” Ormson said. “The strength from this team will be the new leaders that have emerged in the off season. We have many girls who have stepped up and are finding their voice to lead the team. This has been apparent as they have been coming to open gyms and before school workouts.”

The Badger Conference remains a challenge, with some of the state’s top teams residing on Monroe’s schedule: Oregon, Edgewood and Mount Horeb.

“We face large schools with soccer programs that start at a much younger age.  While the conference may be challenging, I have no doubt that the girls will rise to the challenge,” Ormson said. “I expect that Oregon will once again be near the top of the conference. They are a large school with many resources. They have always been a very competitive school and I do not see that changing this year.  In the postseason I expect that Evansville and Sugar River will be very competitive as well. They have had a lot of consistent success in their program over the years and should be very competitive.”

Youth Night is April 19 against Dodgeville-Mineral Point, while Parents Night lands on April 28 against Fort Atkinson. Senior Night is May 19 against Mount Horeb, and May 10 is a special “Lace Up for Pediatric Cancer” game against Stoughton.