Girls soccer

* Coach: Dan DeForest (25th season)

* Last year: 12-3-1, lost to Rice on penalty kicks in Division I quarterfinals

* The team: After losing a heartbreaker in the playoffs last year, DeForest has had to retool a bit this season. After losing a three long time varsity mainstays -- Lizzie Jorgensen, Sam Labate and Melanie Thulin -- along with starting goalie Callie Zak, DeForest is still sorting the best combinations of replacements. In goal, there will be a rotation of senior Meghan Kardas and sophomores Sarah Sullivan and Joanna Jorgensen. Emma Hallett and captain Kate Montague return at the heart of the defense, with freshman Tess Pollard and senior Erin Thompson competing for the outside back roles. Labate leaves a big void to fill in midfield. Up front, Daisy Sullivanreturns along with senior Cara Corvino. DeForest said that his team has great depth and there will no drop off when subs come into the game, a luxury that will allow BBA to try out different players at different spots.

* Opener: Sept. 4 vs. Woodstock

-- Lauren Read Field hockey

* Coach: Barb Muench (second year)

* Last year: 1-12-2, lost to Mount Abraham in the first round of Division II playoffs

* The team: New year, new team, new strategy for BBA field hockey. After graduating nine seniors, the Bulldogs have a young squad -- only four seniors -- and Muench has decided to start from scratch. Last year, the team lost a collection of tight games and Muench thinks that they were too focused on plays and not focused enough on basic skills. This year, the coaches are drilling players through two-a-day practices, looking to make better field hockey players. The team will rely heavily on its seniors -- Lisa Klarides, Brittany Parker, Taylor Devlin and Jessica Dorr -- as well as sophomore Jennifer Dorr. Muench hopes the shift to a skills-based focus will help them in the short and long term. "I feel like the goals will come with better play in the field and that is our philosphy this year," said Muench. "We're going to be better players and the goals will come with better play."

* Opener: Sept. 5 vs. Otter Valley

-- Lauren Read

Cross-country

* Coach: Sandy Birch (second year)

* The team: The Burr and Burton cross country team boasts big numbers. Combine that with the talent on both the boys and girls side, and Birch expects her team to be at the top of Division II all season. The BBA harriers are expecting to have close to 40 runners this season, a big number for cross country. In addition to that, Birch said that her top runners are all returners and should compete both as a team and indivisually. On the boys side, Simon Aborn, Thomas Kittross and Luke Inglinski are three runners who have shown early promise. For the girls, Lauren Miskovsky, Abby Lord, Sarah Baum and Mary Leech are expected to compete as well. "I put out a very rigorous training schedule for the summer," said Birch. "I feel really good about the summer work that has been done and we are going into the season looking pretty strong."

* Opener: Sept. 4 at Rutland

-- Lauren Read