2007 Season: 15-9-2 (11-0-1,1st place NEMC)

Head Coach: Ken Cook

Returning players: Ian Morton, sr.; Ryan Dewald, sr.; Alex Revord, sr.; Matt Stonehouse, sr.; Aran Freel, jr.; Cody Jordan, jr.; Nick Hulea, jr.; Dylan Loga, jr.; D.J. Decker, jr.

Outlook: The Braves lost a strong senior class of 10 players at the end of last season, taking with them nearly three quarters of their scoring and, their starting back line and most experienced goalkeeper.

Tawas should still be in the NEMC title chase as most of the league's schools are in a similar situation. The Braves also hope to start reaping dividends from their JV program, which will supply nine players to this year's varsity roster.

"The new players moving up from JV need to gain some confidence," says Tawas coach Ken Cook. "We need to figure out our positioning and who belongs where with this squad.

"It changes each year, and players know they can't get comfortable with any position that they traditionally have played because I assess the needs of the team and move them around accordingly."

The Braves do bring back four seniors and five juniors that all will need to play key roles. Two juniors, Cody Jordan and D.J. Decker, combined for 17 goals last year and will likely see that total increase. Jordan scored 11 times in 2007 and was among the Braves' most accurate shooters in terms of placing shots on goal, and Decker added six scores,most of them in the late season after moving up from JV for good.

Senior Shawn Crossnoe is by far the most experienced defender in front of goalkeeper Nick Hulea, who saw some playing time in back of Phil Barnes last year.

Up front, junior forward Aran Freel , senior forward Ian Morton, senior defender Alex Revord, junior midfielder Dylan Loga and senior forward Matt Stonehouse all saw plenty of quality playing time last year.

"We condition and practice hard," Cook says. "I try to run a very disciplined program. With our running conditioning I try to get our speed to be a challenge for our opponents. We will continue to try to attain a quality passing game.

An early season schedule that includes Gaylord and Saginaw Nouvel should give the Braves plenty of preparation for its first showdown of the season with John Glenn on Sept. 2 that will shape the league title chase for the rest of the year.

"The goal really never changes from season to season," Cook says. "It is always the same. We set our goal at keeping losses to a minimum and have aspirations of challenging for the conference title and trying to win districts and regionals."