Starting with a two-game, mercy-rule winning streak, both of which were away from Bishop Stadium, the Manhattan girls soccer team began their season hot.   

MHS defeated Junction City 10-0 in their first encounter of the season, which was followed by another 10-0 win against Topeka West last Tuesday.

“Considering they weren’t very big competition, they didn’t show us a lot because it wasn’t a tough game,” senior captain Karmen Martinie said. “So we haven’t really seen what potential we have.”

The Lady Indians finished third in 6A competition last year, winning both the regional and Centennial league championships.

“We’re a lot younger this year,” Martinie said. “Mostly because we only have three seniors, but we do have a lot of juniors and they are stepping up.”

As the team stands now, only three seniors, Martinie, senior defender Molly Smith and senior goalkeeper Emmy Korenek lead a team that expects bigger results from last year with the help of coach Mike Sanchez.

“The team we have now is basically the same team we have for club,” Martinie said. “We didn’t do very well in club but we also had different coaches. Our coach is really excited about this team and I think we’re going to get pretty far this year with his help.”

A change from last year will be the return of junior forward Cailey Perkins, who after injuring herself and not being able to play her sophomore season, is back to play this season.      

“We got [Perkins] back this year,” Martinie said. “That’s a very big piece of our team that we were missing last year.”

Perkins scored 26 goals her freshman season.

MHS beat 1-0 Lawrence Free State yesterday to continue their winning form. The Lady Indians will play Washburn Rural on Thursday, then Emporia High in their home opener on April 11.