Aaron Tomplait said the Nederland Bulldogs still think of themselves as a championship team, despite graduating 11 seniors last year.

That’s not going to stop them from playing like the winning team everyone, and especially the players themselves, expect them to be.

“We know we’re a young team, and we kind of had to find our identity early and we’re slowly getting there, but this group, myself and the other coaches, we don’t see this as a rebuilding year,” he said. “We all have that expectation after we won the district championship last year and we’re going to push for the same thing.”

Losing top players like high-scoring senior Meg Sheppard has necessitated not just a stepping up from the rest of the team, but also a shakeup in the formation. The Bulldogs are 6-1-2 heading into today’s 5 p.m. game against West Brook, so the Bulldogs are learning the new system well, Tomplait says.

“We’ve had to grow into learning the ins and outs of what’s going to work for us and we realize we don’t have the speed we used to have up top,”Tomplait said. “I’ve had a bunch of girls come in and they picked up the slack,been really creative and worked well together to help us score goals. It’s exciting to see because they’ve really taken to the idea of a team.”

Several returners and older players are settling into roles as guides for the others who may not be as familiar with their new positions. Some have played club ball and are helping the others adjust, like sophomore forward Hanna Foster and junior midfielder Jordan Minaldi.

“Foster, she’s another returner. She’s been doing a great job as a forward for us and she’s helped out a lot because she plays that position in club and she’s helping the other girls get more familiar,” Tomplait said. “We have Minaldi in the midfield helping our other midfielders and giving direction to them.”

Tomplait says it took only a couple of games to show that everyone has each other’s back and they’re working hard for each other.

That is something that can’t be taught.

“You can preach but you can’t make them believe it,” he said. “It’s great to see that they believe in the idea that they’ve got to have each other’s back and they’ve got to work hard for each other and that’s what’s going to provide our results.”

Promising newcomers include junior Maria Rendon, a junior, who Tomplait says is scoring great as a forward despite some ups and downs she’s experienced in her position.

Junior Kennedy Robinson is playing as a holding midfielder and is quite a workhorse that finds way to get the ball to the right people.

Junior Emilee Casses, a defender playing full time, is in her first year in varsity. She’s been integral for some of the Bulldogs’ clean sheets they’ve had recently.

The team changes are consistent across the district, Tomplait says, and each year it’s difficult to evaluate what each team is going to look like by the time district games begin.

“You never know what you’re going to get year to year,” he said. “There’s always ups and downs of who’s coming in and who’s coming out of each program. You always try to get the best feel that you can, and we know that in our district we’re going to have some pretty competitive teams.

“Port Neches is going to be competitive. Vidor’s always competitive, they’re going to give you a great game. I’m looking for Barbers Hill to do the same. Dayton was young last year, and I expect them to be much better. We look at these games and who’s going to be in our district and we realize that especially with our youth we have to come in and take each game as it is, play it at its face and never assume anything about anybody.”