The Knoxville Soccer Squads will get their respective seasons underway on Monday as the Panthers boys and girls will take on Carlisle. The girls will travel to Carlisle for their season opener. Two years ago, the Panthers, with a core of juniors and seniors had their best ever season going 14-4. That core of players are gone, and in their place is a younger, but talented group that Coach Matt Ritchhart says is still learning about the expectations of the program after being off last season.

Ritchhart:

“We have a lot of new faces freshman and sophomore and granted they’re talented, but we’re trying to teach a lot of things we want done at our level, and it’s a learning process, and a lot of coaches right now would say it’s a learning process.”

The boys meanwhile, get to host at Ken Locke Stadium also against the Wildcats. The last time the Panthers walked off the pitch was at the Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines in the 2019 State Tournament. Coach Dylan Mick, like the girls, has a younger group this season but will rely on the few upperclassmen he has to guide the Panthers in what they hope is another deep run through the postseason. The girls are set to get underway at 5:30 in Carlisle, while the boys are set to kick off in Knoxville at 7:00.