If it has any intentions of pulling off a Mountain Valley Conference three-peat, the Pleasant Valley girls' soccer team will have some big shoes to fill in front of the net.

Much like the Lady Bears, if Northwestern wants to capture back-to-back Colonial League championships, it will have to rely on a part-time returnee between the posts.The perennial TIMES NEWS soccer powers will both need to find replacements at one of the game's most essential positions on the field the goalkeeper.In his first two seasons with Pleasant Valley, Tim Hinton had the pleasures of watching Jackie Guiliano a second team All-MVC keeper last year man the last line of defense against the opponents' attack. This year Hinton will be forced to rely on an underclassmen to step up in goal."It's one position that can make or break you," Hinton said. "Anytime a goalkeeper can keep you in games, or even better, keep a clean slate, that guarentees that you won't lose."Jackie did a great job for us over the last few years. She was one of our generals back there. She kept us in a lot of games. She made some great saves and the girls felt comfortable with her back there. They knew they could rely on her."A year ago, defenders Olivia Cote, Brenna Courtright, Kristin Hart and Kelly Roden helped Guiliano set a school record of shutouts (13) in a season.This year, those four girls will be part of a seasoned defensive unit that will try to make the job a little easier for the Sarah Elmontacir. Elmontacir, who worked behind Guiliano last season, saw limited time as a sophomore."Sarah is doing a great job right now," Hinton said. "She's always willing to work hard. She's constantly asking for tips on what she needs to do to get better. She tends to overthink the position too much, but we tell her to relax and just let instincts take over."She's going to put the time and effort to make sure she doesn't let her teammates down."While the Bears are looking for Elmontacir to handle the position, Hinton mentioned that his team is fortunate enough to have four other goalkeepers coming up through the system.Northwestern will bring back senior Kelly Boyd, who saw some action backing up Chelsea Ritter a year ago.Pleasant Valley and Northwestern won't be alone when it comes to finding new goalies this season.Lehighton and Northern Lehigh saw graduation take away the goaltending talents of Jourdan Semmel and Emily Mulcahy.Of the five programs in the area, Palmerton is the only program lucky enough to return its goalkeeper this season as junior Kelsey Eaton returns in net.Palmerton head coach Barry Hahn will welcome two-year starter Eaton back with open arms."It's a huge relief having her back for another season," Hahn said. "Every year for the last four years, our goals allowed average has gone down. That is mainly because of the goalkeeper and the defense in front of her. So, it's a huge advantage to have a returning keeper."This year, I have the luck of having three players (Eaton, sophomore Ashley Plocinik and senior Brittany Mickel) that want to be keepers. So, not only am I lucky enough to have a returning player, but if something would happen, I would have two other girls willing to step up and fill her shoes."With Palmerton putting part of the load of making districts for the first time in four years on Eaton's shoulder, Pleasant Valley will simply look to continue its recent soccer success behind first-year starter Elmontacir."The experience is going to be big," Hinton said. "If she (Elmontacir) can get a couple of good games under her belt right off the start, that's going to help her confidence."One thing is for sure, for all five area soccer teams, goaltending will play a huge role in determining this year's success.