The goal of the Dallas Texans soccer club is fairly simple.

“We want to win national championships,” said U16 coach Ryan Higginbotham.

The problem is, once a team achieves the goal once, the task becomes more challenging with every go-around.

Higginbotham’s team is learning as much this season. Having won the national title as U15s, the Texans underwent some minor changes in personnel when they lost a few players, as well as coaching, as Higginbotham has stepped in at the top this year.

So the team that got it right last year had to start from scratch, in a sense, with a new voice and a new game plan.

It was evident when the group returned from its hiatus following the July championship that there was work to be done.

Higginbotham prefers a high pressure defensive style, with a deliberate, possession style offense – a departure from the past.

In addition, new players like Whitney Jaynes, Kate Anderson and Samantha Wolf had to get their feet under them while even proven veterans took on new positions and roles.

Higginbotham said he felt it all come together during a winter regional loss to Lonestar SC.

“Sometimes you can walk away from a loss thinking that the team understood what you’re striving for,” he said. “They really starting to click in that game, and I remember thinking, ‘Okay, I think they’ve got it now.’ ”

The Texans have kept “it” ever since and further drove home the point recently with a strong showing in the US Youth Soccer National League.

The Texans finished 5-2-0 to capture their division for the second straight year.  Kelley Monogue led the way in scoring, but the team is filled with key veterans with vital championship experience.

Players like Whitney Jaynes, Catherine Meyer, Kelley Monogue, Taylor Grant, Hayley McKinney, Rosa Medina, Taylor Schneider, Clarissa Wedemeyer and Abby Smith make up a rock solid core that assures the Texans will be a factor again come this July.

And now that the team has already punched its ticket to the nationals, it’s just a matter of playing their best soccer at the right time.  

“The challenge is making sure we’re peaking for nationals and measuring up to our expectations,” Higginbotham said. “We’d like to win state but that isn’t the focus. It would be great to go to regionals and do well but no matter what happens we know the opportunity is still there in the end. We just want to keep everyone healthy and be prepared for the finish line.”