Karns City and Slippery Rock have plenty in common on the soccer field.

Both reached their respect district playoffs last season. Both return plenty of starters.

And both are wanting more.

“If we don’t at least get to the district championship game, it has to be a disappointment for us,” Karns City coach Jim Grenninger said.

The Gremlins finished 13-3 last season and freshman Spenser Myers secured Butler Eagle Player of the Year honors — but KC was bounced by Brockway in the District 9 semifinals.

Slippery Rock was 11-3-4 in 2013, but lost in the District 10 semifinals.

“Three of our seniors played in the District 10 championship as freshmen,” Rockets coach Kyle Hopkins said. “They want to get back there.”

Here is a look at Butler County boys soccer in 2014:

Butler

Coach: Troy Mohney, 10th year

Last Year: 11-7, 8-4, lost in first round of WPIAL playoffs

Key Losses: Matt Huey, Steven Benson, Jordan Edwards, Sam Horne, Dan Cleary, Wes Eckstein

Key Returnees: Sr. goalkeeper Adam Voelker, Soph. center-back Joel Stutz, Sr. defender Henry May, Jr. defender Ty Savochka, Sr. midfielder John Fleming, Sr. forward Anthony Werth (11 goals)

Mohney says: “We played 10 different midfielders in our first scrimmage, so competition for playing time is fierce. That will probably be ongoing all year long. Adam Voelker is a three-year starter in goal, John Fleming a fourth-year starter at midfielder, so we’ve got some stability in our lineup. Our goal is to get back to the playoffs and possibly challenge for the section title.”

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic

Coach: Jordan Wiegand, first year

Last Year: 2-15, 0-12 as co-ed team

Key Losses: None

Key Returnees: Sr. center-back Chris Goetz, Sr. David Dunn

Wiegand says: “This is the first year the school is having separate boys and girls soccer teams, so we’re starting from scratch. I coached at Deer Lakes the past three years and went from 4-10-3 my first year to 12-3-3 last year, so I know how to build a team. We have two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and about 14 freshmen. In a couple of years, this team will be a force to be reckoned with.”

Freeport

Coach: Dave Teorsky, second year

Last Year: 6-11-1, 3-8-1 in section

Key Losses: Jim Mansmann, Mike Sterner

Key Returnees: Sr. center-back Ed Gamble, Sr. center-back Nikita Rylow, Sr. outside midfielder Dylan Kersten, Sr. center-midfielder Denny Loevlie, Jr. center-midfielder Patrick McNulty, Jr. midfielder Mario Borino

Teorsky says: “We didn’t score a lot of goals last year. We’ve got a sophomore goalkeeper in Austin Uric and 10 incoming freshmen, which is a nice group for us. We’re trying to build a roster and lineup ... There’s a lot of guesswork right now.”

Grove City

Coach: Matt Nichols, first year

Last Year: Failed to reach District 10 playoffs

Key Losses: Graduated 11 players

Key Returnees: Sr,. forward Cole Latimer, Jr. forward Tanner McKnight, Jr. back Matt Owrey

Nichols says: “We’re revamping the program and playing a better system, getting more quality touches with the ball. Defensively, we have some cracks that need filled.

“Key newcomers to the lineup are midfielders Wyatt Grimm, Jared Krouse and Steven Biddle, forward Caleb Stewart.”

Karns City

Coach: Jim Grenninger, second year

Last Year: 13-3, lost in District 9 semifinals

Key Losses: Shane Miller, Jared Ellenberger

Key Returnees: Soph. forward Spenser Myers (21 goals, 16 assists), Sr. forward Tyler Pollock (16 goals), Soph. forward Noah Pollock (10 goals), Soph. midfielder Jayce Ebbitt (6 goals), Jr. midfielder Conrad Snyder, Sr. sweeper Jon Garing, Jr. defender Caleb Garing, Soph. defender Noah Claypoole, Sr. goalkeeper David Olszak

Grenninger says: “Matt Yough (senior midfielder) and (freshman) Nolan Riley should add to our lineup this year. David Olszak needs eight shutouts and eight wins to break the school records of 29 and 52 (held by Josh Grenninger).

“We want to play an active pace of soccer and get back to the District 9 championship.”

Knoch

Coach: Malcolm Cook, fourth year

Last Year: 9-5-4, 7-3-2 in section

Key Loss: Brandon Vargo

Key Returnees: Sr. midfielder Ben Andrews (10 goals), Sr. defender Devin Sherman, Sr. defender-midfielder Nick Kadunce, Sr. midfield-forward Josh Gizienski, Sr. midfielder John-Michael Lambert, Sr. forward David Miller, Sr. defender Christian Renaud, Jr. forward Kris Matus, Jr. midfielder Val Panger

Cook says: “We barely missed the playoffs last year, losing out in a tiebreaker on points, and we want to get over that hump. The extra year’s experience has helped a lot of our players and we’re solid in the midfield area.”

Mars

Coach: Chris Knauff, eighth year

Last Year: 12-6, 8-4 in section, lost in first round of WPIAL playoffs

Key Losses: Jesse Perfett, Conner Robick, Greg Campbell

Key Returnees: Sr. defender Ian McNany, Sr. midfielder Noah Hudac (15 goals), Sr. midfielder Kyle Nymberg, Jr. midfielder Cole Ferguson, Jr. forward Andrew Diefenbacher, Jr. defender Justin Simakas, Jr. goalkeeper Dale Glavin, Jr. defender Nickolas Cimini

Knauff says: “We get to the playoffs pretty much every year, so we have high expectations. We want to improve upon last year. That’s the No. 1 goal.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: George Williams, 20th year

Last Year: 15-3-1, 12-0 in section, lost in WPIAL quarterfinals

Key Losses: Jared Myers, Colton Smith, Joe DeAugustino, Brad Banks, Kalin DiPaolo, Ben McConahy

Key Returnees: Sr. midfielder Mike DiMichele, Sr. defender Danny Wallowicz, Jr. forward Adam Mascio, Jr. midfielder Matt Saluga (6 goals, 8 assists), Sr. defender Ryan Maurer, Jr. midfielder Jorge Olan (4 goals, 2 assists), Jr. midfielder Griffin Mathew, Jr. forward Connor McCandless (5 goals), Sr. defender Trent Lang, Sr. defender Matt Dramble, Jr. defender Macen DiPaolo, Sr. goalkeeper Bryce Benjamin

Williams says: “We had a record-setting regular season last year and it was unexpected. This year’s group could do just as well. Each year, the chemistry is different. We have to find the right combinations.”

Slippery Rock

Coach: Kyle Hopkins, fourth year

Last Year: 11-3-4, District 10 semifinals

Key Losses: Jake Prelec, Luc LaChance, Josh Stutz

Key Returnees: Sr. midfielder Ben Magliocca (8 goals, 10 assists), Sr. midfielder Mark Cessar (10 goals, 8 assists), Sr. goalkeeper Jason Bluedorn, Sr. midfielder Josh Jones, Jr. defender Matt Dempsey, Jr. defender Marty Doyle

Hopkins says: “We’ve got a lot of seniors who played for me when I coached U-12’s, so they know my style. Josh, Ben and Mark all played as freshmen on our team that reached the District 10 championship. Our strength is our leadership and we’ve got a number of new starters who will make an impact (defenders Matt Johnston and Nick Stutz, strikers Jace Baxa and Zach Devlin, midfielder Nate Popejoy).”