It’s taken a long time for the Powell Panther girls’ soccer team to reach this point, and the Panthers are not satisfied heading into this year after reaching their first semifinals and earning a first trophy at state a season ago. Now, their goal is securing the first state title in school history.

The Panthers are seen as one of the top title favorites in 3A soccer this year, contending once again in a crowded 3A West field. That field will feature three of the top teams in the state in the defending champion Lander Tigers and Cody Fillies alongside Powell, while Douglas is expected to contend out of the East.

“The ultimate goal has always been to be able to win state and that is no different this year,” coach Danny Agee said. “It has been awesome to see how the past couple years have started to transform how we play the game. The ladies seem to get into a rhythm on the field much quicker than in the past.”

Leading the way for the Panthers will be a set of All-State returners in junior midfielders Ivy Agee and Coy Erickson who are two time selections, along with senior defender Emily Orr who earned her first selection last season.

Powell also returns sophomore All-Conference selection Emery Hernandez, and will bring back a majority of last season’s team that went 13-6 and won eight of its final nine games.

The one area the Panthers will need to replace will be the starting fullbacks, but with a strong core returning coach Agee is hopeful that a team that has spent a couple of seasons playing together at the varsity level can take that next step.

“We most definitely have a strong dynamic core that has had the opportunity to play together for a while now and that is in our favor for sure,” he said. “We are hoping to capitalize on this by moving players around to where we can attack from every position.”

In addition to a strong core, the Panthers add in a talented freshman class that is expected to contribute from the jump, with Agee noticing the quick adaption from his younger players to the Panthers’ playing speed.

“We have several young players that have both skill and athleticism, and that is great for any program,” Agee said. “They have been working hard and are learning quickly. It is awesome that they will have a couple of years to learn from this older group and hopefully they can continue the style of play we are looking for as a program.”

With the growing expectations for the Panthers, Agee is hopeful that his team understands their potential but will continue to take it week-by-week.

“It is hard to speak for the ladies, but I hope that they are excited for the potential that we have been able to display so far and that they understand it is just one game at a time,” Agee said.

Games kick off this week, nearly three weeks after practices started.

The first match for the Panthers will be at home this Friday, welcoming in Newcastle at 3 p.m. in both teams’ first games of the season.

Powell then heads out on the road at 2 p.m. Saturday, making the trip to the top team in the East, Douglas.

“We are adjusting a couple things this year to try to be more unpredictable in our play,” Agee said. “If we can connect some of that to the games that will be a big win. We have never seen Newcastle before and Douglas is always a force to be reckoned with, so just a solid showing is the main goal.”

Those games will start a quick two month frenzy which will end with the state tournament in Gillette on May 22-24.