Left: Midfielder Angel Waters leaps for a header during practice Tuesday. Above: The Lady Badgers varsity squad: back row from left, River Hooks, Tori Hawthorn, Megan Mason, Jontel Ritz, Morgan Tongish, Liz Hawthorn and Angel Waters; front row from left, Taylor Stephens, Dayna Noonan, Susie Goodpaster, Andrea Dibble, Samantha Thomas and Samantha Almanzar. Not pictured are Kassie Carpenter, Ashley Thompson, Sarah Pillow and Angelica Reyna. Lady Badger head soccer coach Mark Guszak is fully aware his team could struggle on offense this season, but he has a plan.

Instead of playing an up-tempo style and trying to outscore opposing teams, Guszak will look to compensate by playing solid defense and keeping the games close in hopes of getting a lucky bounce every now and then.

"If you can keep the other team from scoring and you put yourself in a position to win, then goals sometimes just happen," Guszak said. "Sometimes you work hard to create one, and sometimes they just happen, but if you can keep the score down then you always have a chance."

PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Lampasas' first opportunity to try out the philosophy comes tonight at 7:30 p.m. when the Lady Badgers travel to Stephenville for a scrimmage.

Their regular-season opener is set for Tuesday at Brownwood, and the district schedule is slated to begin in early February with a trip to Hutto.

"You never know where they are at [as a whole] until you put them out there against another team," Guszak said. "When we started off we were pretty rough, then as the year developed, the passing got a lot more crisp and the communication got a lot more crisp, and we got more optimistic about the season.

"But until you put your starting 11 out there against another team's starting 11, then you don't know what you have."

Guszak, an LHS product in his first year as head coach, takes over the role after the resignation of Debbie Mason last year.

With extra emphasis being placed on keeping opponents' offensive outputs to a minimum, goalkeeper Liz Hawthorn will be vital to the Lady Badgers' success.

Hawthorn, however, comes into the season with some pretty big cleats to fill.

She takes over the position following the departure of senior Bonnie Wallace, who earned goalkeeper of the year honors for District 25-4A last season.

Despite the key loss, Guszak believes his team could allow countless balls to slip into the goal without necessarily considering the season a failure. Needless to say, he has no intention of letting such a thing occur.

"I don't think [success is defined] with wins and losses," the coach said. "Certainly, we're going to go out to win every game, but if you play a powerhouse like Lake Travis [and lose a hard-fought game], then there are still positives in there."

While the graduation of Wallace hurts the Lady Badgers at the net, the squad also returns a pair of All- District selections from last season.

Midfielder Angel Waters earned a spot on last year's first-team ballot as a junior and, as a four-year starter, she will be expected to provide senior leadership to a trio of freshmen joining her in the starting lineup.

"Waters is probably our most valuable player and our most talented player," Guszak said. "It makes it a lot easier to have those types of players on the field because you have a coach on the field, and she definitely plays that role."

Junior Ashley Thompson was named to the second team as a defender and will be vital in the team's defense-oriented game plan.

Although she will not be sporting an armband signifying her as a team captain, Thompson will serve as an unofficial captain to the relatively inexperienced squad. Officially, Waters, Hawthorn and junior Kassie Carpenter will be recognized on the field as squad captains.

"Thompson is definitely in charge of that defense," Guszak said. "She's telling people where they need to be, and she's leading by example.

"She told me she doesn't need a band on her arm to be a leader, and I agree with that."

River Hooks, Tori Hawthorn, Sarah Pillow and Andrea Dibble are all returning members from last year's squad.

"The goals we've set are to go out there, play smart, play your position, have fun and basically have a good time," Guszak said. "If we have good kids that practice hard and do what they're told, then we'll be satisfied.

"We want some wins to come along with it, and we think we'll get our wins, but I just want to have the kids out there doing what they're told to do, doing it well and having a good time doing it."