When asked about his offensive and defensive philosophies heading into his first season as Powell High School’s girls soccer coach, Jack Haire kept it simple.

“We had an opposite number last year where we gave up 27 goals and we only scored 25 — that’s a problem in my book,” Haire said. “I want to score goals.”

After spending time as an assistant last spring, Haire, a native of Southern California but a Powell resident for the last five years, takes the reins this season with plans to get the Lady Panthers back on track.

PHS labored through a 7-12 campaign (including 2-2 in 3A Northwest play) in 2014 that included a Class 3A state tourney berth, but ultimately ended in a 3-0 loss to eventual state champion Buffalo. Powell won’t get a shot at revenge over the Lady Buffalos until a May 1 visit to the defending champs’ home field.

Looking to turn things around quickly, Haire is switching things up for the Lady Panthers this spring. He started making changes late in the offseason. Throughout February and March, more than a dozen players attended weekly conditioning workouts with Jess Campbell at The Gym in Powell.

Haire said he has experience with crossfit-type training, and plans to utilize the program during his stint with PHS.

“I asked Jess for help starting a program, and it’s going to continue, hopefully through my five-year stretch, where she’ll partner with us and build athletes,” Haire said. “I believe that if we train hard in the offseason, the injuries during the season will be mellow, and we won’t have to worry about getting into shape during the season.”

The program was intended to boost the girls’ cardiovascular endurance, but also prepare them for Haire’s 4-4-2 offense.

“I like to have a very fast runner up front and forward, and I like to have a good ball-attacking skill player up front also,” Haire said.

Haire’s hunger for offense stems from PHS’ 1.31 goals-per-game average last season. The Lady Panthers will likely need more diversity on offense after senior Aimee Kawano led the team with seven goals, which added up to 28 percent of the team’s scoring. PHS’ next top scorers following Kawano — Haley Wichman (six) and Shelby Nicholson (4) — are now graduated, leaving senior Rebecca Pratt (three goals) as second-highest returning scorer from last season.

Kawano picked up where she left off last season with a pair of goals during the Lady Panthers’ 5-0 win over Pinedale on Saturday in Powell. The offense appeared more diverse as coach Haire’s daughter, senior forward Jourdyn Haire, got in on the action with a pair of scores.

Kawano believes year-to-year developments have helped prepare the Panthers to the next level.

“Every year we’ve been improving,” Kawano said. “I feel like we’ve been improving since I was a freshman, and I feel this year is going to be a really good year.

“Everyone is working harder and pushing themselves harder to be better than they were last year.”

The defense did its part in 2014, allowing just 1.42 goals per match, and Haire is hoping another strong defensive season can transition into goal scoring.

“I believe in a strong defense, and we do have seniors to step up and lead this team as captains and lead that defense,” Haire said. “And now I also have a couple of seniors that are going to step up as forwards (Kawano and Jourdyn Haire) and they want to score goals.”