RAPID CITY - Soccer balls will be bounding across the turf at Sioux Park tonight as the high school soccer season begins.

Rapid City Stevens and Rapid City Central host Greater Dakota Conference rivals Sioux Falls Washington and Roosevelt. The Stevens girls will host Washington at Noordemeer at 8 p.m., while the Stevens boys will meet Washington on the stadium field. Meanwhile, the Cobblers will meet Roosevelt at the same time with the girls on Field No. 1 and the boys on No. 2. The teams will swap opponents and fields on Saturday with matches beginning at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, St. Thomas More - defending state champion by defeating Harrisburg for the State A title least year - begins its season on the road meeting Sioux Falls Christian today and Harrisburg on Saturday.

Doug Noyes begins his seventh year at St. Thomas More. During that span, his teams have claimed three state championships.

"We have an excellent blend of youth and experience and if we can avoid injury since depth can be a problem at our level, we should have a fun season," Noyes said.

The Cavaliers lose three all-state players off last year's team, but do return junior Maria Gonzalez, a second-team all-state selection. Gonzalez led the team in scoring last year with 26 goals.

"Maria personally scored more goals than half the teams we played," Noyes said. "She is a phenomenal player."

Also returning is senior mid-fielder Betsy Farris. Noyes also singles out Emily Hurd as a very promising player.

"Emily has gotten really strong and turned into a very nice player for us."

Noyes believes that another championship will be the team's goal.

"Nobody votes us the championship, we will have to work for it," he said. "But we hope to improve with every one of our 12 games and peak in October. If we can get through the season with everyone having a good time and staying healthy and enjoying ourselves in the process, it will be a successful season."

The St. Thomas More boys team under coach Pete Sayles hopes to improve upon last year's ninth-place finish in the State A tournament.

In the Class AA ranks, the Stevens girls nipped the Central girls 1-0 to claim third place in the 2007 state tournament. The two teams should be similarly matched this season as they will field relatively young teams.

Steven's coach, Troy Anderson, hopes to rebuild his team around all-state returnees Felicia Reimann, a junior goal keeper, and Haylee Weisgram, a senior forward. Letter winners Ashley Schilling, Megan Anderson and Taylor Faulkner will be counted upon for leadership roles as well.

Central girl's coach, Mike Austin, begins his first year at the helm with a young, inexperienced team.

Austin lost three all-state performers from last year's team and hopes to find leadership from Jacqee Jasinski and Mallory Carda.

"Jacqee is an awesome soccer player and just a great athlete, and Mallory is a very good all-around athlete too," Austin said. He also expects excellent play from goalkeeper Rachel Kostaneski.

In the boy's soccer last year, Stevens and Central were evenly matched with Stevens finishing eighth in the state and Central, ninth. Steven's coach, Randy McKee, lost a number of players to the college ranks as is often the case with his program, but returns a solid team that possesses outstanding team speed. All-State returnee, Eric Moeller will provide leadership until the offense begins to gel.

Joe Sabrowski at Central begins his third season with a rebuilding job on his hands.

"We lost eight starters from last season and the whole starting defense," Sabrowski said. "And since we have a small upper class, we will lack size and experience. We do have a solid midfield with all-state player Ryan Keohane and have a few speedsters up front."

Sabrowski also singles out Nick Sterling, Mo Keller and Austin Galinat as returning players of note.