There might be no bigger shoes to fill in the Hickman girls soccer team’s lineup than those that patrol the center midfield.

No position has been as vital to the Kewpies’ success, which includes winning district titles in four of the last five years, than their playmaker in the middle.

Janelle Cordia orchestrated Hickman’s offense in 2004-05, collecting consecutive Class 2 first-team all-state honors before moving on to play at the University of Missouri.

Last year, Kelsey McClure took over the offense and scored 14 goals and six assists while being named to the all-state second-team.

Now, for the first time in four years, the Kewpies entered the season with no central leader, and the offense has suffered. Entering tonight’s game against Jefferson City at 179 Soccer Park, the Kewpies are still waiting for their offense to break out and find the scoring touch that has eluded them so far.

"It’s still early. It’s not young, but it’s still early," Hickman Coach Jon Strodtman said. "Hopefully, we’ll get it together."

While the Kewpies (3-6-1) are young after losing six seniors from last year, there is no greener portion of the team than its midfield, where no seniors are present.

"Right now, it’s just more of getting used to each other," senior forward Caitlin Keith said. "They’re getting a lot better at managing the midfield and it’s become a lot more organized."

The reins of that organization of Hickman’s offense have been given to sophomore Edith Lopez, who has been handed the task of becoming the primary playmaker for the Kewpies.

"She’s getting there," Strodtman said. "She works hard, she asks questions, she tries to do everything we ask her to do. There’s a whole bunch she’s got to do. …

"She’s got really good presence as far as what’s going on the field, but she needs to get her head up and actually see it so she can connect more with our players. She’s very talented and knows the game. She’s just a young sophomore. She’s coming along. She’s a bright spot."

Just a 15-year-old sophomore, Lopez and her family moved three years ago to Columbia from Anaheim, Calif.

Because of where she was in her schooling in California, Lopez was put in a grade higher than she would have been out West. While not a problem academically, her age at the club level prevented her from playing with the Kewpies as a freshman last season.

Because she was still at an age where most of her teammates were eighth graders, her club team in St. Louis played both a spring and fall season, and Lopez decided to play with her club.

"She lost basically that whole freshman year of learning the system and all that stuff, so she’s kind of started out a year behind, but she’s coming along really good," Strodtman said.

Thrust into a starting role this season, Lopez has had to adjust to a new team, and the team to her, while learning how to direct and lead an offense.

"I was pretty confident," Lopez said. "Everybody plays differently. I try to play how they play. It’s been hard, but I’ve been taking it pretty well.

"The players around me are really good. It’s easy to play with them."

Talent has never been a problem for Lopez, who could’ve started for Hickman last season, because of her time growing up in the soccer hotbed of Southern California. Teammates marvel at her ability to strike a ball from distance with either foot, and she has begun to find the passing lanes for her forwards and wing midfielders.

"She can take shots from far out that others of us wouldn’t even think about taking," Keith said.

Still, she has had to adjust to the rougher play in the Midwest while finding her rhythm in the offense.

One of the smallest players on the team, Lopez has emerged as an unlikely aerial ball-winner in the middle of the field to help the Kewpies control possession.

The Kewpies believe their offense is close to fully clicking after creating some dangerous chances in their last two games, and with Lopez settling in, the offense might soon follow.

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