One of the WPIAL's newest and youngest girls' soccer coaches has taken over one of the league's best teams.

The hope is that Rachael Schmitz, a 2005 Shaler Area High School graduate and recent alumnus of Clarion University, can lead Beaver Area to its first WPIAL Class AA championship.

"She's great; we love her," senior co-captain Maddie Monte said. "We're all getting better from it. I think she'll play a big role in how great we'll be this season.

"We're all working together better, and it's because there's a better atmosphere with her around."

The Bobcats (17-3 last season) are fresh off their first WPIAL semifinal appearance and PIAA quarterfinals berth. They open the season at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, playing host to Riverside in a non-section match.

"This year, the No. 1 goal is to make it to [the PIAA final]," Monte said. "We're working hard at it, have been practicing really hard through two-a-days and are really looking forward to the season.

"We believe this is our year."

Beaver allowed only six regulation goals in its final 19 games last season, and plenty of talent and experience returns. A senior solidifies each position on the team -- Monte on defense, center midfielder Shelby Lloyd, forward Erin Hogan and goalkeeper Brianna Hellier.

"They're pretty much the core," Schmitz said. "There are a couple sophomores who are stepping up into roles that will help us out, but they basically are our top four."

Lloyd, Hogan and Monte share the captaincy duties.

"They started as leaders in the summer," Schmitz said. "They came to almost all the summer practices and basically came out of the gate right away to show they'd be leading the team as a group of three. They've been doing that, and it went right into the preseason.

"The team actually voted them captains, so I stuck with the team's decision. They've been living up to that expectation as captains.

"The senior class as a whole is a big strength on the team. There's good leadership on and off the field. They're definitely looking to lead the team. Plus, we've got a strong freshman class coming in, a big group of girls.

"It looks like we're set for the next couple years, but this season, the seniors can definitely take us far."

Schmitz is trying to instill a more team-oriented attack, promoting passing in the transition game via increased team chemistry. Overall, team unity and togetherness has improved.

Schmitz graduated with degrees in special education and elementary education from Clarion and works within the district as part of its charter school and high school special education departments.

A four-year starter, two-time captain and 2008 team most valuable player at Clarion, Schmitz also earned a minor in coaching and always maintained an interest in coaching. She was the inaugural coach of the Penn State-Dubois women's team, which launched its program last season.

Schmitz said she is not going to shy away from setting high expectations. Beaver is striving to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and win its third consecutive section title.

Last season, the Bobcats went 12-0 in Section 5-AA, but with the PIAA adopting a new three-classification alignment for girls' fall soccer this year, Beaver is in a section with schools that have a much larger enrollment.

That hasn't changed the team's outlook, however.

"We made our team goals together, and the ultimate goal is to get to Hershey," Schmitz said, referring to the site of the PIAA championship game. "We're taking it one day at a time, but my goal ultimately is to get to Hershey, go deep into the playoffs, deeper than they did last year even.

"We've got a solid group. We should be able to get that far."

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