From the Springfield News-Sun

Dan Griest had lofty goals in his first season as Northwestern’s boys soccer coach. He just didn’t know his Warriors would stomp right over them on their way to winning Central Buckeye Conference Mad River and Division II sectional and district titles.

A loss in the regional semis was a huge accomplishment for a team led by a rookie coach, but that hasn’t swayed Griest from wanting it all this season either.

“I’ll be disappointed if we don’t win as many games as we did last season,” said Griest, speaking of last year’s 14-win season. “We have some good players coming back with a lot of big-game experience.”

Leading the way will be the Warriors’ nine seniors, including midfielder Kevin Kiger, who Griest said should be one of the area’s best.

“Kevin did a great job for us last year and I expect nothing less this season,” Griest said. “We have some other guys that can contribute, too.”

Griest, a former News-Sun All-Area soccer player while a standout at Northwestern, will lean on midfielders Brad Cox, Ryan Finnegan, David Wickline and forward Phillip Fulton to help get it done offensively.

Probably the most important addition to the Warriors squad is senior goalkeeper Nick Sanders. Sanders should give Northwestern a little more stability in the net, Griest said.

“I am excited to have him back there,” Griest said. “We will be a little bit more stable back there, which should give us even more confidence.”

But as far as winning expectations go in the CBC, Tecumseh coach Jason Runner’s may be the highest.

Senior Noah Mehaffie should prove to be one of the area’s better midfielders, but the Arrows have some newcomers who will surely turn some heads.

Marcello Braga, a transfer from Brazil, has some experience at the midfielder spot to give Mehaffie some support. Gilberto Cruz is another senior new to the program and should see some time at the midfielder position.

But what about the other positions?

“We keep talking about those 10 seniors and how they’ve matured,” Runner said. “They will be true leaders and should help us out, especially on defense.”

That’s where Matt Schwartz, Chris Oaks, Matt Davis and Ricardo Fiscal step in. Davis will see some time in the goal along with Fiscal, as defense is where the Arrows have to succeed.

“It is important,” Runner said. “We have worked hard on controlling the ball. That’s what we have to do this season to be successful.”

Also vying for some notoriety in the CBC will be Urbana. Jim Winkler takes over the program and is looking for some senior leadership to be successful.

“The two keys to our success will be how our seniors step up and how well our freshmen mature on the field,” Winkler said. “We are going to be competitive, I just don’t know how much yet.”

To help the freshmen mature, Winkler is going to rely on senior midfielder Ben Shank.

Shank led the Hillclimbers in scoring last season with 11 goals and seven assists.

Then there’s Graham to keep an eye on.

Senior forward Jordan Current leads the Falcons in hopes of a CBC title, and fourth-year coach Duane Caudill thinks they can get there. Current led the team in scoring with 10 goals last season and should give Northwestern a battle.

“I think we have a shot at the league title,” Caudill said. “We will be strong offensively. As long as we can control the ball we will have success.”

As for Kenton Ridge, coach Chris Slagle is taking a wait-and-see approach to his squad after losing a handful of key players.

“I don’t know yet what kind of team we are going to be,” Slagle said. “We had some kids lost due to graduation and some were ineligible. We played Catholic Central in a scrimmage (last week) and played to a 1-1 tie, so I was encouraged by that.”

In the Ohio Heritage Conference it looks like the Irish will be the team to beat. Coach Shane Latham has a platoon of Fighting Irish players ready to improve on last season’s 11-4-4 record and earn the Ohio Heritage Conference title outright.

“We are going to be strong this season,” Latham said. “We have some kids that can play. We will have a strong non-league schedule that should help us when it comes time to play in the conference.”

The Irish have some of the best offensive players in the area, including seniors Jordan Halloran, Brennan Predraza and Steve Shonk. Latham’s son Stefan should also turn some heads during his sophomore season as a midfielder.

Greeneview looks to hold onto its success of last season, sharing the OHC title with the Irish with a 12-3-4 record,. But coach Bob Eakins is unsure of his younger talent to start the season.

“We don’t have a reserve team, so we will rely on our seniors to develop the younger kids,” said Eakins of his 12 sophomores and freshmen. “I’d like to think we can be at the top.”

View Article at SNS