Boys Soccer: YHS Looks To Rebound From Rough Season

There weren't a whole lot of highlights last season for the 's boys soccer team.

The team only left the field after a victory on six occasions and even those weren't too memorable.

A couple of the wins came against a struggling Sandwich program that the Foxes hammered 12-2, two others came against a pair of Class 1A schools (Coal City and Plano), another against a school known more for its rigorous courses in various academic fields (IMSA) and finally a thrilling 1-0 victory against Morris. Normally this kind of victory would be remembered fondly, but it was dampened when the Foxes dropped a 5-0 decision to this same Redskins later in the season..

Now, the slate is clean, but the bodies in the uniforms are pretty much the same. There are some big differences though. The players are stronger. They're back after a busy year of strength, conditioning and practice, and perhaps most significantly, they're hungry for success.

"I started seeing the change from day one and these guys really want to win," Yorkville coach Mike Jacobs said. "They worked hard in the off-season. Guys like (Josiah) Hahn, (Cole) Gawne, (Jacob) Maaske and (Jeremy) Koranda all played hard in the off-season for a reason, and they want to win."

Yorkville had two players named All-Conference in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference East Division last season and both of those players (Sean Baker and David Rodriguez) graduated in the spring. Just about everyone else is back.

"It's really about the guys improving head over heels from where they were at," Jacobs said. "We have a few guys who played last year that played club and that's how they improved, and a couple of guys that came in that we didn't expect and are now playing real well together."

After enduring a 15-loss season, the players committed themselves to vastly improve their efforts on the field, as well as grow closer as a team.

"We're trying to keep a positive attitude this season and build the team chemistry," Gawne said. "We want to try to win more games than last year and get a better record, and we think we can."

The Foxes got the kind of confidence shot in the arm it needed during its season-opener at Plainfield Central on Monday. Last year, the Foxes dropped a 2-0 decision to a Wildcats team that went 19-5. This year, the Foxes took an early 1-0 lead, fell behind 2-1, but kept their composure, scored the equalizer and actually had the momentum for most of the end of the second half, settling for a 2-2 draw.

"The first game is always one you never know," Jacobs said. "Everyone wants to be playing their best soccer toward the end of the year, but we want to play good all year. We played them 2-2 at their home and we'll take that anytime. They're a very well coached team. They ave a great team and we gave them everything we had."

The players aren't looking back to what happened last year, but focusing on what they can do this season. They're determined to be competitive in every match which they believe will culminate in a better conference season. Last year they went 1-9 in conference play.

"We're ten times better right know than what we were last year," Koranda said. "This year we have finishers than can put it in the net, and we're closer now as a team than we've ever been."

The Foxes also expect to make things difficult on opponents, especially those known for their ability to attack the net.

Against Plainfield Central, the Wildcats were able to create scoring chances, but they weren't able to deliver the knockout punch. Sometimes it was because of Hahn making a save, sometimes it was because of Gawne and Maaske and others getting in the way, and of course, there were times where the Wildcats simply misfired or had to rush their attempts because of the defensive pressure.

The Foxes are hopeful that their defense can keep them in most matches.

"We have an older defense with more experienced guys back there which helps," Hahn said. "We lost Sean (Baker) but we have all seniors back on defense and one sophomore (Nick Ferintello), so we think we're going to hold strong."