The MSHS Boys Soccer team officially kicked off their season on Thursday, Aug. 28 with their first game on Tuesday Aug. 25 canceled due to weather. The opener was a home game against St. Marys.
With a new season, the team is having to adapt due to the loss of their star scorer, Alexander Steger, who finished his senior season last year. Steger scored an impressive 28 goals in 16 games, putting him on state charts, headlines and leaderboards. “It’s not ideal when one player scores 90-95% of your goals, but that’s just where we were at that point,” said Benjamin Mack, head coach of the varsity team.
With the loss of Steger, Mack hopes for more scorers on the team this coming season. “Now we don’t have him, which is good and bad, because now players have to step up. I’m sure we’re going to have a lot more balance in scoring, which is great,” Mack said.
Goals both literal and figurative are important for the team this year. “The biggest goals that I have for this season are to instill a work ethic and a competitiveness in the players so that when they go out there, they want to compete, and they compete at the highest levels that they possibly can,” Mack said.
Along with team goals, varsity captain Logan Kelley had his own personal goals for this season. “I’d say personally my goal is just be the leader that my teammates need me to be,” Kelley said. “It’s probably gonna be the last season that I ever play soccer, and that also means a lot to me so I want to give it all my effort.”
This season co-captain Kyle Blasi plans to focus on team connection. “I enjoy the team dynamics. I love everybody on the team, I’ve invested into the program and I’m really just excited to spend time with everybody,” Blasi said.
Captains and coaches want to focus on team connectivity and team dynamics. “If you have a good talent base and you’re willing to really work hard, which we are, then it’s really about how well you mix with that team and how selfless you are to take on roles,” Mack said.
This year’s team is a mix of new and old players. Willing to work hard is a key aspect of the team. “This is the first season that we’ve been consistently working all summer with kick arounds,” Blasi said. “A huge shout out to assistant coach Sam Duff for giving us the opportunity to work over the summer. I really appreciate him.”
Both the captains and coaches encourage everyone to come out and support the team and cheer them on. “My coaches have confidence in me,” Blasi said, “and my teammates respect me. It just feels like all the work that I put in is paying off. So it feels really good.”
