Coach: Jeff Young, 12th season

2006 Season: 7-12-0 (6-6, 3rd-tie NEMC)

Returning Starters: Kyle Dantzer, sr., (GK); Casey Smith, sr., (F/M); Brian Marshall, sr., (M/F); Garrett Rodriguez, sr., (D); Gregg Simmons, sr., (D/M); Alex Meiser, sr., (D/M); Jackson Moore, sr., (M/F); Nick Rau, sr., (F/M); Justin Brindley, sr., (D/M).

Outlook: The Falcons bounced back from a 2-7 start last year to finish out the regular season winning five of their final nine, and with 13 players returning, including nine starters, they hope to carry that momentum to a significant improvement over 2006.

Another reason for very few new faces on this year's team is the advent of a junior varsity squad, which will give the sophomores and freshmen a lot more quality playing time than what they've gotten in the past. The varsity will have just three new faces -- all of them former Fall golfers whose season was moved to the spring in the wake of the gender lawsuit ruling.

Still, expect some changes when watching the Falcons play. Ogemaw coach Jeff Young installed a new system this fall that he hopes will create more quality scoring opportunities.

"The kids are excited about it," Young says. "If it works the way it's supposed to we should be able to put a lot more pressure on the opponent's goal. They've worked real hard adjusting to the changes, trying to sort out who is supposed to be where, when.

"We should be able to move the ball more, and we have the kids with the skills to control it better."

With such an experienced team, the learning curve isn't as steep as it might otherwise be. Up front, Casey Smith and Nick Rau return at the forward positions, with midfielders Brian Marshall, Jackson Moore and Justin Brindley and defenders Garrett Rodriguez, Gregg Simmons, and Alex Meiser also back for the senior seasons. Kyle Dantzer returns at keeper. Other returning players include senior Lee Hages, juniors Sean McClintic and Ben Wiltse and sophomore Clayton Clemens. Most will play multiple positions, depending on the situation.

"With17 on the roster, getting playing time won't be an issue," Young says. "The nice thing is we won't have a big fall-off when we do substitute. And we've been hitting the conditioning pretty hard in the pre-season.

"So far the changes have looked pretty good. We'll just have to see what happens when we start playing other teams and go from there."