The Evanston High School girls’ soccer team went 0-2 over the weekend, opening the 2025 season with conference losses at Green River and Rock Springs.

The Lady Devils opened play Friday with an 11-0 loss to Green River, which was led by a nine-goal performance from Isa Vasco.

“Things could’ve gone better,” said EHS head coach Karalyn Barton. “Green River was rough to have as a first game when we were trying to get our formation figured out, as well as having to stop a player like Isa Vasco. But we completed good passes, and we were able to move the ball up the field and have some shots on goal. Even though the score wasn’t great, I walked away excited with the potential I can see with this team.”

Saturday found Evanston squaring off against Rock Springs in a much closer match, losing 2-0 in a game where the Lady Devils controlled the action for much of the contest.

“I thought we played well against Rock Springs,” Barton said. “When we had to play against the wind, we struggled with our goal kicks and couldn’t get out. Goal kicks and long balls are something we have been working on the past couple years. Hopefully we can continue to get better. Once again, we were able to connect a lot of good passes and move the ball up the field and have some good scoring opportunities. I am excited to play Rock Springs again.”

The Lady Devils will have nearly two weeks to regroup before boarding a bus to Casper on Friday, April 4, with games scheduled against Kelly Walsh Friday afternoon and Natrona County Saturday.

Season Preview

With the first two weeks of official practice now in the books, Evanston High School girls’ head soccer coach Karalyn Barton said she’s encouraged by what she’s seen so far.

“You know, it’s looking pretty good,” Barton said. “We’ve been out on the field the majority of the time, so that’s been pretty big. Having the turf bubble has been a really big addition, as well. It’s not huge or anything, but just having that turf in there, the girls get used to passing the ball.”

Barton’s team definitely skews young this season, with just three seniors on the roster in Bailey Cazares, Bella Leavitt and Adalee May. With six juniors, four sophomores and seven freshmen on the varsity roster, expect there to be some growing pains.

“Usually a lot of problems that we see at the beginning of the season — especially when we have younger teams — is our balls don’t have any pace to them because we’re used to passing on the gym floor; it just goes so fast. So going from the turf and onto the field, there really isn’t that big of a difference in their passing, which has been huge for us.”

This year’s captains are senior goalkeeper May, as well as juniors Dannon Kohler and Sierra Barnes. They will be counted on to provide the necessary leadership for the team’s youth movement. Returning starters include May, Barnes, Kohler, Julia Barton and Evie Stahl.

“I have those girls returning, so now it’s all about filling in the other pieces to the puzzle,” Barton said. “I’m going to have a couple of starting freshmen, which will be interesting. I’ve moved some girls around — for example, Dannon Kohler is moving from the back line to the midfield, and Julia Barton – who was a forward last year — is dropping back to midfield.”

Starting on the back line will be junior Sidney Liechty, freshman Zoe Barker, Stahl and Barnes.

Joining Julia Barton in the midfield will be Kohler and freshman Kyrsten Hiatt, while the starting forwards will include Cazares and freshman Haven Hill. May gets the nod in net, though she’ll have competition from freshman Emmy Hoff, who will also see time in the field.

“This year, I’m going to have a deeper bench, which I am very excited about,” coach Barton said. “We kept more freshmen than we ever have, because we always have attrition with soccer being the last sport of the year — girls are tired, they have other activities going on, so we’ll probably have attrition. But I don’t have a big senior class, so I thought I might as well keep a big class, because they’ll have to make up for it if I don’t have the numbers next year.”

Fitness has been a focus since the start of practice, with each girl trying out required to pass a fitness test before making the team.

“The girls had to be at a certain level, and they all [were]...” Barton said. “Fitness has been a huge focus for this year — we’ve got to come in seasoned and in better shape. There were some girls who have worked hard, but did not do what they needed to on the fitness test, at least for the varsity level. So they’ve got to get that up. So they’ve kind of been passed a little bit. We’re coming in good shape, and I have subs, which will be a game changer this year. We’re not going to get as tired as we have in the past.”