With strong, promising seniors, Tupelo High School’s boys and girls soccer teams have high expectations for the upcoming season.

“Our expectations are always high,” said coach Hannah Kimbrough, whose girls team’s ultimate goal is to win a state championship.

The team has made it to North Half the past two seasons and lost to Madison Central both years. Kimbrough said the Lady Wave’s main rivals will be teams out of Jackson such as Brandon, Clinton and Madison Central.

“Our biggest obstacle is North Half,” Kimbrough said. “One of our major goals is to get past Madison Central. That is our goal and we expect to reach it.”

Kimbrough said she’s looking to her seniors to be key players and leaders for the team.  

“My three seniors are going to be critical to our success on and off the field,” Kimbrough said. “I need them to be big and lead for us.”

Senior center midfielder/center defender and Mississippi College commit Liza Wise expects the team to have a very successful season.

“Our practices have been really intense and everyone seems to be working really hard, so I’m really excited,” Wise said.

Other seniors include Lauren Kate Carter and Madeline Harrison.

Boys coach Harris Faucette said he’s really excited for the season and looks forward to seeing new players step up.

“We’re really going to rely on our seniors this year,” he said.

The Golden Wave lost 11 seniors last year and eight of them now play for ICC. Faucette said this year’s seniors have done a good job of stepping up and leading.

“They’ve learned a lot over the past few years and know what it takes to have a successful season,” Faucette said.

Faucette said top rivals for this season will be division teams such as Hernando, South Panola and Columbus.

“[Those] are really important because to make playoffs, you have to finish top two in your division,” he said.

Last year the team lost in the first round of playoffs to Northwest Rankin. Senior midfielder Chase Huddleston said that though the team lost so many seniors, this year’s seniors and juniors are very capable of maintaining a successful season.

“I think we’re going to be pretty competitive this year,” he said.

Other seniors this year include Logan Little, Blake Nabors, Colby Bogle, Cade Fremont, Brandon White and Jamie Smith.