Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008

Falcons look to return to state’s biggest stage

Olathe South soccer coach Will Stoskopf said his players are excited to get the 2008 season started. It’s hard to blame them — after all, the last time they played was in the Class 6A state championship at the College Boulevard Activity Center.

South’s spirited playoff run ended with a 2-0 loss to Blue Valley North in that game, but that hardly dulled the shine of a 14-3-4 season and a state runner-up trophy. This year, the key may be forgetting about the state championship and focusing on each game in the ultra-competitive Johnson County soccer scene.

“You would hope that our experience will help to keep that focus,” Stoskopf said. “A team that’s less experienced maybe would look ahead, but that’s one of the advantages of having experience.”

South’s experience starts with one of last year’s captains, Ethan Bauer, a three-year starter who returns for his senior season as one of the state’s top offensive threats.

Known to his teammates as “E.B.,” Bauer is a high-energy midfielder/forward who makes up for a lack of size with constant hustle and outstanding touch with the ball at his feet.

While Bauer leads the Falcons up top, goalkeeper Tanner Fox will lead them in the back. Fox, another All-Sunflower senior with lots of starts under his belt, should give Stoskopf plenty of peace of mind.

“No matter how good you are, it’s impossible to be perfect,” Stoskopf said. “Occasionally your opponent is going to get through and get a shot off. If you’ve got someone experienced in goal who’s not going to be nervous and is confident, that’s always a huge help.”

Fox will be organizing a back line that will have to replace last year’s leader, Drew Marsh, a physical, intimidating center defender. But Stoskopf said he expected the defense to be solid again with three-year varsity players like Alex Smith and Jacob Wayland coming back.

Other than Marsh, the biggest loss for South was probably forward and co-captain Kyle Greig. But with 15 varsity players returning, the Falcons should be able to absorb those losses and put themselves in contention for another trophy.

East moving on from heartbreaking loss

Another Sunflower League title and top playoff seed for Olathe East seemed to be more or less business-as-usual last year. The powerful Hawks appeared headed for another deep playoff run, until they ran into Shawnee Mission East.

The Lancers’ shocking 2-1 quadruple-overtime upset in the regional championship brought East’s 15-2-1 season to a screeching halt. But coach Terry Hair said he hoped this year’s players had taken the lessons they needed from that game and put it behind them.

“I hope they don’t use that as motivation and feel too much pressure,” Hair said. “It was heartbreaking, an overtime loss (that included) a goal taken away, and that’s sports. You have to have a winner and a loser, and I hope they’re not dwelling on that.”

The Hawks will move on without the two biggest stars from last year’s squad, Mark Saxby and Steven Stewart. Saxby was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year after recording 12 shutouts and Stewart was Offensive Player of the Year after scoring 19 goals.

Still, East is certainly not in complete rebuilding mode. The Hawks bring back a number of starters, including nine-goal scorer Dylan Kelling, speedy Jeremy Wassmer and creative twins Dallas and Jared Kaunley.

Laeth Hamil, a versatile defender capable of full-field runs, is back, along with junior Ben Coyle, seniors Jake Lundberg and Josh Rydberg and a host of others.

“The shelves are by no means bare,” Hair said.

Hair had more than 70 athletes come out for soccer this year, though, which means there should be heated battles for playing time in the early season and few starting jobs will be safe.

The most high-profile position up for grabs is Saxby’s spot in net, which is being contested by junior Dustin Dierks and senior Andrew Miller.

Even without an experienced varsity keeper, the pieces appear to be in place for another outstanding season at East — one that could go a long way toward helping the Hawks forget last year’s ending.

Graham back in new role for Ravens

Officially, it’s only been about a week, but already Chris Graham is finding that he enjoys being home.

An assistant coach for Olathe Northwest’s boys and girls soccer programs from 2003-2007, Graham left the Sunflower League for a head coaching job at Spring Hill High School last year.

But when Ravens head coach Mark Sheldon resigned in the spring, the pull of his former school proved too much to resist. Graham expressed interest in the position, and shortly thereafter was named Sheldon’s successor.

The squad he inherits is a talented one, finishing 2007 with an 11-7-1 record and a second straight regional championship. Additionally, the boys program lost just three starters to graduation.

The Ravens return one of the league’s top goalkeepers in senior Gabe Bliss and a solid offensive threat in midfielder Nick Aguilar, who excels in the open field and on set pieces.

Replacing all-state leader Tony Weber will be a serious challenge and new players will have to step up defensively, but the development of offensive standouts like Brandon Allen and David Barraza should make the Ravens more of a threat to score than they were last year.

Toss in that the squad’s seniors are familiar with Graham’s coaching style from his previous stint with the team, so Northwest’s new head coach said he’s got high expectations for 2008.

“The biggest thing that we’re pushing for is, while nobody wants to lose, we’re about the process and not about the results, especially early on,” Graham said. “So that hopefully by the end of the season, we’re playing our best soccer; we’re going into the post-season with teams not wanting to play us.”

Eagles ready for next step

The growing pains — such as they were — from the first year of the Dave Glassman era at Olathe North are over. Now the Eagles know what to expect and feel ready to take on the area’s established powers.

North’s first year under Glassman was plenty respectable: an 8-8-1 record that included quality wins against Shawnee Mission West and Blue Valley West. But the expectation is that 2008 will be even better.

“We’ve got a lot returning,” Glassman said. “We didn’t lose too much and, on top of that, we’ve got some good young kids that are really pushing and are going to see some playing time. We’re very confident going into the year.”

The Eagles lost five seniors and, while Shaun Forgey, Addis Kenea, Jake Underwood, Chad Latka and Cody Hill were solid, North appears to have key players back in every section of the field to pick up the slack.

Max Doby, a physical and determined forward, returns to lead the offense after notching eight goals last year. Matt Wilbur and Cody Parker, smart and reliable, are back defensively and Trent Rogers appears ready for a breakout season in goal.

Rogers, tall and athletic, seemed to get better with each game last year as a junior starter.

“I think his ceiling is very high and I don’t think he’s even close to reaching it yet,” Glassman said. “As the year went on last year, he continued to grow and he had a great off-season. He went to a couple keeper camps and continued to develop. He looks very solid here at the beginning of the year.”

Throw in other returning starters like Brandon Butler, Ryan Klaus, Adam Bush and Thor Niesluchowski and Cleveland transfer Jim Lucas and the Eagles won’t be afraid of any opponent.

“It’s hard to predict anything and certainly the other city schools and the entire Sunflower League is highly competitive,” Glassman said. “I think it’s more competitive than it’s been in a long, long time. But I certainly feel that we’re on par with those teams.”

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