Rangely soccer team about to kick off season

RANGELY I Even though her team wasn’t able to practice outside for the first two weeks, soccer coach Kris Denny is excited for the season to start.
“We started practicing in February, so two weeks now we practiced in the gym and we haven’t been on the field yet,” Denny said Monday.
Denny even had her players out walking on the field last week, to facilitate the snow melting.
“The snow on the field is now totally melted,” said Denny, who expected to practice outside for the first time Tuesday.
The Lady Panthers were scheduled to play their first game of the season Friday at Vail Christian, but the game was moved to Rangely because of snow on the field at Vail. The game will be at 4 p.m. The Lady Panthers will also play at home at 11 a.m. Saturday against Basalt.
“I am so pleased that we have 20 girls on the team this year,” Denny said. “That’s the biggest number I have ever had in seven years of coaching. It’s really exciting to see the numbers, considering soccer was one of the sports that might have been cut, if we had had low numbers.”
The Lady Panthers have everybody back from last year’s team, except for three players.
“We lost three seniors who had been playing soccer since they were in the fourth grade,” Denny said. “So those shoes will be hard to fill, but we have new girls who are going to be tough and scrappy, and that is what you want when they lack the experience.
“We should do great, and most importantly, they are having lots of fun,” Denny said.