And to score a few more goals in the process.

Not too much to ask, right?

“The kids, everybody has high expectations this year,” Leavitt coach Wanda Ward-MacLean said. “Because you went that far last year, it’s in the back of your mind. But the kids have been very realistic. You have to win some games first. But everybody wants to get back there, just like anybody would.”

Leavitt capped a magical season a year ago with a remarkable run through the playoffs, scoring exactly one goal in each of four playoff contests to earn a third state title in six trips to the big game, and first since 1996.

“It’s different, coming off a state championship, and Leavitt hadn’t won one in a while,” senior Meagan Dow said, “so we want to keep that going.”

On the face of it, the Hornets appear to have the recipe for accomplishing that very goal. The team graduated just one senior and lost one other player when she moved out of state, leaving nine of last year’s starters in a deep lineup that also saw a lot of rotation a year ago.

The anchor of the team’s defense, goalkeeper Sierra Santomango, is back to play her senior season as well after being a part of last season’s run.

“I feel like I have a lot more to prove this year,” Santomango said. “I think our team is working a lot harder to prove to everyone that it wasn’t just a fluke, that we didn’t just win by chance.”

“She’s been really excited to play this year,” Ward-MacLean said. “She liked hockey, but it wasn’t really ‘the’ thing. But now she’s really excited. She’s had her ups and downs during the preseason like anybody, but she’s steady, and we expect her to stay that way.”

Maintaining similar personnel also means the Hornets maintain a certain chemistry, which solidified last season and only stands to get stronger.

“Most of us, the seniors anyway, have been playing together since elementary school,” senior Annie Castonguay said. “We all played together strong in middle school and a lot of us have played varsity through high school, so we know each other well.”

But chemistry and familiarity with the playoffs will only take a team so far. If there was a wrinkle in the team’s game last season, it was an inability to score early in games — or at all — as evidenced by the run of 1-0 games in the playoffs.

It was enough to drive Santomango — and Ward-MacLean — bonkers.

“It would be nice to get ahead a little bit early and not have to wait until the end of the half to score a goal or wait until the second half to finally put one in,” Ward-MacLean said. “If we could get a goal or two in the first half, at least against some teams, that would be great.”

“Our goal is to score early, score often, but if it gets to me I still have to stop it,” Santomango said.

Message received, said Dow.

“We want to win games as much as we can, obviously, but we also want to have more of a lead in games,” she said. “We want to improve our scoring and stay strong on defense. If we don’t get out to a good start, and then the other team plays better than us or even just as well in the second half, that’s going to be tough.”

As in many sports, most of a team’s offensive attack is generated with a solid stroke from the midfield or from a defender in transition. To that end, Castonguay and the rest of the Hornets’ back line and midfield are ready to do their part.

“I think what we need to work on more this year is getting shots on goal,” Castonguay said. “We get the ball to the circle, but then it turns defensive and you can tell with all of our 1-0 games.”

An underdog team with a young cast of characters a year ago, Leavitt will have to adjust to wearing a bulls eye at every turn.

“Every game you play, everyone wants to beat you because you’re the state champion, until November,” Ward-MacLean said. “It’s an extra pressure. Even the teams that aren’t necessarily the top skill-wise, they still want to play well against you, to prove that they’ve made improvements.”

The Hornets believe they’re ready for it, pressure and all.

“It’s going to force us to challenge ourselves, I think,” Castonguay said. “The pressure is on, I guess.”

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