Centerville soccer enters the 2026 season with a standard to uphold. Last fall, under head coach Brad Schluter, the Elks went undefeated through Greater Western Ohio Conference play, won the outright GWOC championship, and advanced all the way to an OHSAA Division I regional final — finishing among the final eight teams remaining in the entire state. It was a season that put the program back on the map, and it ended just two results short of a state semifinal appearance.

The Elks scored 65 goals across 21 games in 2025, posted a 14-4-3 overall record, and needed a 3-2 loss to eventual state runner-up Seton in the regional final to end their season. Centerville had already tied Seton 1-1 during the regular year, so the postseason rematch was as close as the results suggest — a signature season decided by a single goal at the highest level the Elks had reached in years.

Replacing that kind of production won't happen overnight. Centerville graduates a senior class that combined for 36 of the team's 65 goals, 25 assists and 97 total points. Anna Kate Robillard, the reigning GWOC Player of the Year and a Ball State signee, leaves as the program's all-time leader in goals, assists and points from the 2025 season. Fellow seniors Sammi Aydelott, Amelia Davis and Lucy Trout all graduate as well, taking a combined 65 games of varsity experience and a Division I regional-final run with them.

But this roster isn't starting from nothing. Senior Zoe Johnson returns as Centerville's leading returning scorer, having posted 6 goals and 10 assists a season ago — a mark that ranked among the GWOC's assist leaders. Johnson steps into 2026 as the most established attacking presence on the roster, and all signs point to an even larger role ahead.

She won't carry that load alone. Sophomore Addison Hogendoorn enters her second varsity season after a standout freshman year that included 5 goals, 8 assists and a pair of assists in the 2-0 win over Springboro that clinched the GWOC title outright. Hogendoorn's game-breaking speed shows up beyond the soccer field, too — she finished second in the 100-meter dash at the 2026 GWOC Track & Field Championships, running a wind-legal 12.56 and earning Second Team All-GWOC honors, with a season-best of 12.22 in the event. That kind of closing speed translates directly to the final third.

Sophomore Lucy Pokorny rounds out a trio of returning attackers who combined for 15 goals, 19 assists and 49 points as freshmen and sophomores last season. Pokorny's 32 shots ranked among the team's highest totals, evidence of a player unafraid to test opposing goalkeepers.

In goal, Centerville returns both primary options from a season ago. Junior Kara Sobecki appeared in 17 games and was credited by GWOC statistics with 45 saves and five shutouts, while senior Allyson Courville posted a .909 save percentage across nine appearances. Both give the Elks' back line a proven foundation.

The freshman class arrives with real intrigue. Reese Rohrer joins the varsity midfield with credentials that extend well beyond the local level — this spring, she was one of just 80 players selected nationwide for a U.S. Soccer North Region talent identification camp, a credential that speaks to her all-around ability on the ball. She'll operate in Centerville's midfield, where her range and creativity on both ends of the field figure to make an early impact. Fellow freshman Josie Colson brings a different kind of athletic pedigree, having also competed at a high level in basketball, and her arrival adds another dimension to a program built on multi-sport talent. Both are just beginning their high school careers, but both have already shown the kind of competitive background that turns heads.

They'll get an immediate measuring stick. Centerville opens the season against a Lakota West team that finished 8-9-1 a year ago but returns real firepower — five players who combined for 26 goals in 2025, led by junior Darcy Bittlinger's 9 goals and 25 points. The Firebirds also return junior goalkeeper Evelynn Fenech, who posted a .730 save percentage across 17 appearances. Centerville beat Lakota West 3-1 on the road to open last season; this year's rematch comes at home, and it won't be a formality.

Centerville boys soccer closed out 2025 as one of the eight best Division I programs in the state of Ohio — and the season included one of the most complete performances of the year. After dropping their season opener at Lakota West, 3-1, the Elks turned around and beat that same Lakota West team 3-0 in the OHSAA Division I regional semifinal, a statement result that sent Centerville to a regional final against Columbus St. Charles. The Elks fell 2-0 in that game to a St. Charles team that went on to lose to Cleveland St. Ignatius in the state semifinal, but a 13-5-2 season and a 5-1-1 GWOC record left no doubt about where this program now stands under head coach Jeff Monbeck.

That success came at a cost on the roster sheet. Centerville graduates seven players who earned 2025 All-GWOC recognition — First Team honorees Peter Evans, Hudson Day and Zach Wourms, Second Team selections Owen Mace and Jackson Cutright, and Special Mention picks Hamza Yasin and Jack Loree — along with a senior class that produced the bulk of the team's scoring. Evans led the way with 15 goals and 37 points, while Day anchored the net as a First Team goalkeeper credited with 6.8 shutouts in GWOC's statistical system. Replacing that group means replacing both the identity and the production of last year's postseason run.

The 2026 attack now runs through junior Chase Holzapfel, who posted 7 goals and 4 assists a season ago — good for second on the team — and returns as Centerville's leading scorer heading into the new year. Holzapfel's experience in big moments during last year's postseason gives the Elks a proven option to build the offense around from day one.

He'll have help. Senior Maddox Rose returns to the lineup after spending last season with Cincinnati United Premier, and his return adds real firepower to a group that lost so much scoring to graduation. Rose isn't new to this stage — he played varsity soccer as both a freshman and a sophomore, giving him a level of experience at this level that few returning players can match. With Centerville needing to replace a significant share of last year's goal production, Rose figures to be one of the most important pieces of the attack in 2026.

Senior Myles Houston returns as the only player on the roster who earned All-GWOC recognition in 2025, picking up Special Mention honors after a season that saw him contribute across 20 appearances. Houston's two-way presence and postseason experience make him a natural leader for a roster that will lean heavily on players stepping into bigger roles for the first time.

Centerville isn't short on players who logged real varsity minutes during the Elite Eight run. Junior Beckham Cutler scored 3 goals in 11 games a year ago, junior Liam Owen appeared in 19 matches, and junior Caleb Gerspacher contributed a goal and two assists across 19 games. Sophomore Carson Bowling saw action in 13 games as a true freshman, while seniors Bryson Sengsy and Conner Harris and junior Isaac Timmerman each brought varsity experience off the bench in a run that went all the way to a regional final. That collective experience — even in smaller roles — gives Centerville a base to build from that many rebuilding programs don't have.

All of it sets up a fitting way to open the season: a rematch with Lakota West, the same team that beat Centerville in the 2025 opener before the Elks answered with a 3-0 statement win in the postseason just months later. There's no need to manufacture a storyline here — these two teams have already played two of the most consequential meetings of Centerville's season, and now they'll do it again to open a new one.