2011 Preview: Wheaton North Boys Soccer

Head coach: Bryce Cann (seventh year)

2010 record: 6-13-2 overall, 2-4-1 in the DVC (sixth place)

Key players

Robert Jaimes, M (Sr.)

Brooks Joy, D (Jr.)

Sam Klatt, F (Sr.)

Joey McKinley, M (Sr.)

Isaac Oberlin, M (Sr.)

Gareth Phillips, D (Sr.)

New addition

Isaac Roberts, M (Jr.)

Season outlook

The ’ 2010 record is deceiving in the sense that they were on the short end of several one-goal games. Converting on goal-scoring opportunities when they present themselves is an area that Cann believes will be key to the Falcons’ success this fall, along with how well the team executes particular facets of the game.

“Finishing tackles, winning 50/50 balls, making intelligent decisions and being relaxed when game pressure picks up,” Cann said. “You take those things, and they certainly take away goal-scoring opportunities from the opposition and hopefully they create a couple for you.

“When you’re talking about a sport that has maybe three or four really, really good scoring opportunities—maybe in an entire match—you’ve got to be good on one of those. Oftentimes that’s the difference between winning and losing a match.”

Klatt will be one of Wheaton North’s go-to players offensively. He was the team’s leading scorer last season.

“Up top, we’re a little untested, but Sam is a very opportunistic player,” Cann said. “He has a great nose for the goal and has a great ability of just being at the right place at the right time.”

The Falcons do possess a solid core of experienced senior midfielders—Jamies, McKinley and Oberlin among them.

“I think that midfield group, as a whole, we’re going to lean on them pretty hard just to move the ball around and create some opportunities,” Cann said.

Complementing this trio is Roberts, a transfer from Pennsylvania who played for the Emmaus High School varsity soccer team as a sophomore.

“I think Isaac (Roberts) is a strong player,” Cann said. “Isaac Oberlin has great skill; he’s probably one of the more skilled young men on our team.”

Wheaton North also will be in good hands defensively with Phillips and Joy leading the way.

“Gareth is probably our best raw defender,” Cann said. “He does a great job one-on-one, and he’s a very strong young man. He doesn’t get pushed around a lot, which is what you need back there.

“Brooks is a returner for us and saw some time last year. We’ll be looking for him to hopefully step into things a little bit more and take up his role just a little bit.”

Cann’s goal for the 2011 team, he says, is simple: Return to the regional championship game. The Falcons were ousted by St. Charles North in overtime in last year’s regional semifinals, snapping a two-year streak of regional titles.

Cann would like nothing more than to see the Falcons, who've won three regional crowns over the past five years, start another postseason run.

“We’ve always said that winning a regional title is a tough thing to do in this area,” he said. “There’s some great programs around. We’ve done fairly well, but we want to make sure as the season progresses that we’re putting ourselves in a position where we can compete for regionals.

“Once you’ve done that, if you’re fortunate enough to get past that, then the rest of that is gravy. There isn’t a team in the state that wouldn’t love to be in that position.”