POULSBO — The Kitsap girls’ lacrosse team was undefeated last year en route to its first ever championship, beating nearly all its opponents with ease and earning a spot in the state’s highest level of competition.

But that was B division and this year, they’re grade A.

Moving to the top league is a long time coming for head coach Val Torrens, who founded and has coached the team for about 15 years. She referred to the chance to play at the “A” level as “Old home week,” due to the fact the squads Kitsap will play are teams she used to compete against before they, too, moved to the top division.

Despite having the confidence of a championship under their belts, there are certainly some concerns about going to the top league.

“We used to watch these teams and be like, ‘Wow,’” said junior Rachael Perry. “Now we’re one of them.”

“We’ll be playing with the big dogs now,” added junior Katie Berger. “It’s a whole new step.”

Some of the players said they believe that if they could accomplish the accolades they did a year ago, why not now?

“I think we’ll get there,” said junior Madeliene Hernandez. “It will be a challenge, but we proved ourselves last year.”

“I’m a little nervous,” added senior Erin Leeper. “But I think we have the potential to do really well.”

Regardless of the outcome, Torrens’ main priority is to give the girls the skills to do well on the field. She said she has been impressed with the team’s work ethic thus far.

“What I like is everyone’s attitude,” Torrens said. “Everybody recognizes that 99 percent of the players here will be playing at a different level than they’re used to.”

The team graduated a tough defensive line that Torrens is working to replace. But seniors Madeliene Hernandez, Amie Wistrand and Kristen Peterson will likely do the job, the veteran coach said.

Goalie Liz Gosney moved to Arizona after the end of last year as well, but Torrens said that she’s found a talented replacement in Denita Santos. Santos, who came to one day of summer camp last year, promptly bought a goalie glove and has been practicing ever since, Torrens added.

“Her reflexes are real quick and her work ethic is great,” Torrens said. “I expect her to be a top notch goalie.”

The team’s top strikers from a year ago — Krista Burleson, Bria Phillips, Amanda Divyak, Megan Lockert — are all back in Kitsap green. Phillips, who is from Gig Harbor, will again make the journey to Poulsbo to play, and Divyak is still recovering from a fractured pelvic bone, but is almost fully healed, Torrens added.

In all, there are 44 players in the program this year — 15 at “A,” 14 at “B” and 15 on the middle school/junior varsity team.

The coaching staff includes many of Torrens’ former players. The “B” team will be coached by Shawna Lambert while the middle school/junior varsity squad will be co-coached by Shannon Hilderbrand and a key component of last year’s championship team, 2004 NKHS grad Katie Younger.

No matter what happens at A, Torrens said she and the team are excited.

“The team’s looking forward to it,” Torrens said of the move. “No matter what the win-loss record is, it will be a great season.”