First-year coach Kevin Lanning liked what he saw from Lake's girls’ soccer team Monday afternoon at Delta.

he Flyers opened their season with an 11-1 victory in a game that was decided early.

“I saw the will to win for 80 minutes,” Lanning said. “That's something we've been trying to work on, to play a complete game, and we did a good job of that. We had 30 shots on goal and we scored 11 goals, so I can be pleased from that standpoint. We're wanting to attack, we're wanting to win and we want to be relentless. They worked hard in the summer, so to get that first win under their belts was good for them.”

Lanning, 23, a soccer standout at Sylvania Southview, where he was a Division I third-team All-Ohio forward during his senior season in 2005-06, takes over a program that went 16-2-1 last season. The Flyers' only loss was to Genoa in the district semifinals.

Lanning's father, Kevin Lanning Sr., is a Lake assistant this season. The Flyers have 17 players on their roster and will not field a junior varsity team in 2011.

“We had in the mid-20s try out, and we just didn't have the numbers to have a jayvee team,” Lanning said. “I felt more comfortable keeping a lesser number and working with that, rather than trying to bring kids up and send them down. That isn't what I wanted to do. We have 17 good ones and we're happy.”

Most of Lake's top players return from last season, including junior forwards Shelby Antonacci and Kayla Encalado. Antonacci scored four goals in the win over Delta, while Encalado and sophomore forward Kylie Hoffman had three goals apiece and and sophomore forward Tabitha Aikman added one goal.

“Shelby's got all the tools to be an outstanding player,” Lanning said. “She's fit, she has the foot skills and she has the desire to win. I expect Shelby to be a top goal scorer for us and help us win games.”

Encalado set a school record last season with a team-high 23 goals.

“Kayla is a great athlete,” Lanning said. “She also plays softball. She's a sparkplug on the field, she can run forever and she's aggressive and she's a goal scorer. That's what she does. I expect her to continue on from last year.”

Two other top returning players are senior defender and team captain Hannah Cox, and junior goalie Ashley Timmons.

“Hannah is the leader of the team,” Lanning said. “She helps organize the defense, she's a good vocal leader, she leads by example and the girls look up to her, and that's very appreciated. Ashley is a great athlete. She's a standout in track and she's improved tremendously over the summer. My dad has been working with her nearly every practice and she's improving at great strides.

“I expect for her and my defense to not give up any goals in any game. We expect that out of our defense and our goal keeper, and she has the ability to make that happen. Lake has a good winning tradition and we obviously want to build on that. We want to be successful and be in every game. If we put ourselves in position to win every time, I'll be happy with that.”

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