Karns City's Dakota King celebrates a goal against Forest Area during a District 9 boys soccer game at Diehl Stadium in Karns City in this file photo. The Gremlins are hoping to add their sixth district title this season.

KARNS CITY — Karns City's boys soccer program has five District 9 titles to its credit.

The Gremlins came painfully close to adding a sixth each of the last three years.

Losses in the championship game to Punxsutawney (2019), Brockway (2018) and Saint Marys (2017) forced KC to settle for runner-up.

Whether or not this year's Gremlins can break through remains to be seen, but they will take the field with a formidable attack.

One of seven returning starters, forward Dakota King scored 49 goals and added 13 assists as a junior last year.

Owen Collwell tallied 23 goals and 19 assists, but has been moved from forward to center-midfielder to make up for the loss of Nate Rondinelli to graduation.

“We'll definitely get the bulk of our scoring up front. Owen should still get his opportunities, but we have to work on our communication with Nate being gone,” said KC coach Jim Grenninger. “He did a great job for us.”

Other returning starters are Robbie Rumbaugh, who moves from the midfield to forward, midfielders Chase Beighley and Eddie Herrero; defender Kaden Scherer and goalkeeper Malik Metcalfe.

KC is involved in a co-op for boys soccer with A-C Valley and is a Class 2A team.

The Gremlins open the season Saturday at Slippery Rock.

Following are preview capsules for Butler County's eight high school boys soccer teams.

Statistics that are included are from the 2019 season.

<b>Coach:</b> Troy Mohney<b>Last year:</b> 13-6-1; reached WPIAL 4A quarterfinals<b>Returning starters:</b> seniors Tyler Gillis (D), Evan Fetter (M) and Micah Fabrizzi (D); juniors Aidan Soley (F), Carson Knight (M), Guinness Brown (D) and Landon Mohney (M, 10G/9A)<b>Strengths:</b> experience<b>Challenges:</b> young players adjusting to speed of game<b>Outlook:</b> “The sessions that we've been having the last few months have been really competitive with the kids pushing each other,” said Mohney. “A lot of the kids have also been hitting the weight room for a while now, so hopefully they will be strong enough to get through the very condensed season with 16 games in five weeks.”

<b>Coach:</b> Dave Teorsky<b>Last year:</b> 12-6-2; reached WPIAL 2A quarterfinals<b>Top players:</b> senior Christian Waronsky (D); juniors Sebastian Cordier (G) and Lukas Troutman (M); sophomores Isaac Wetzel (F, 16G) and Garrett Risch (F)<b>Strengths:</b> competition for starting spots<b>Challenges:</b> moving up to Class 3A competition<b>Outlook:</b> “We are going to need all facets of our game to come together and play at our best in order to compete at the AAA level,” Teorsky said. “Some of these teams we have played in the past for non-section games, but new teams like Mars, Hampton and Indiana will be a great challenge for us.”

<b>Coach:</b> Jim Grenninger<b>Last year:</b> 18-2; reached District 9 Class 2A final<b>Returning starters:</b> seniors Dakota King (F, 49G/13A), Owen Collwell (M, 23G/19A), Kaden Scherer (D, 4G/7A), Chase Beighley (M), Robbie Rumbaugh (F) and Eddie Herrero (M); sophomore Malik Metcalfe (G)<b>Strengths:</b> scoring and defense in the midfield<b>Challenges:</b> communication after the graduation of center-midfielder Nate Rondinelli<b>Outlook:</b> “We had a scrimmage scheduled with Grove City, but it was canceled,” Grenninger said. “We look good in practice, but it's hard to tell when we're not going up against other teams.”

<b>Coach:</b> Malcolm Cook<b>Last year:</b> 4-13-1<b>Returning starters:</b> seniors Ty Pitkins (D), Dan Olean (F, 7G/4A), Lucas Goldinger (M), Ian Robb (CM) and Stuart Milcic (D, 3G/1A); juniors Jared Cushey (D) and Nick Dellarosa (F); sophomore Orrin Milcic (M)<b>Strengths:</b> chemistry<b>Challenges:</b> consistent scoring<b>Outlook:</b> “We're working well together,” Cook said. “Get to the playoffs, that's our number one goal.”

<b>Coach:</b> Chris Knauff<b>Last year:</b> 17-2-1; reached WPIAL 3A quarterfinals<b>Returning starters:</b> seniors Dane Beller (F, 20G/12A), Tyler Nymberg (F), Nabil Lahlon (M), Ryan Pasko (D), Trent Wick (D); junior Zac Campagna (M)<b>Strengths:</b> scoring ability<b>Challenges:</b> movement off the ball, due to players in unfamiliar positions<b>Outlook:</b> “Our goal is to win the section and getting to play at Highmark Stadium (for WPIAL title),” said Knauff.

<b>Coach:</b> Aaron Kelly<b>Last year:</b> 13-4-2; reached WPIAL 2A quarterfinals<b>Returning starters:</b> seniors Ben Esser (M), Rick Kaminski (D), Ian Daugherty (D); junior Dylan Greggs (M); sophomore Andrew Maddalon (F)<b>Strengths:</b> athleticism and leadership<b>Challenges:</b> game experience and chemistry<b>Outlook:</b> “We lost a lot of guys who were part of our program for three or four years,” said Kelly, “but we will be fast and physical and plan to use that to our advantage.”

<b>Coach:</b> George Williams<b>Last year:</b> 14-4-1; reached WPIAL 4A semifinals<b>Returning starters:</b> seniors Zack LaValle (F, 3G/6A), Connor Schmidt (F), Kyle Majeski (M), Chase Thomas (M) and Adam Davies (G)<b>Strengths:</b> experience<b>Challenges:</b> replacing the graduated Luke Rupert, who led the team in scoring last year<b>Outlook:</b> “It's hard to get a read on players because they had a lot less playing time this off-season,” said Williams. “We'll find out once we start playing other teams, but we believe we have a strong group.”

<b>Coach:</b> Kyle Hopkins<b>Last year:</b> 16-4; reached District 10 Class 3A final<b>Returning starters:</b> juniors Caleb Kuhn (F) and David Magliocca (D)<b>Strengths:</b> cohesiveness<b>Challenges:</b> inexperience in the midfield<b>Outlook:</b> “We lost a lot to graduation, but the guys coming back have been playing together for years,” Hopkins said. “We're now (Class) 2A and are playing Hickory, Grove City, Sharon and Greenville three times each. Playing teams three times can be difficult.”