In his 12 years as head coach of the Hingham boys soccer team, Ken Carlin has been a part of nine league championships.
Last season was one of the nine, but it was shared with Duxbury and Silver Lake. The goal this year is to make it 10 in 13 years and not let any other team in the league stake claim to tops in the Patriot Keenan Division.
“We have nine returning players who are just older, bigger, stronger,” said Carlin. “Putting all that together we should at least be just as good. Our goal is not to share the league championship this time.”
The core of the Harbormen will be returning to the field this season and the leadership will be solid all over the field.
Senior Jake Awtry is in his second season as captain of the Harbormen as he puts his stamp on the middle of the defense with the occasional move up to the middle of the group of midfielders.
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“He is a great gentleman,” said Carlin. “He is very intense. He’s not physically a big player, but he has really big ups and he is fearless. Jake leads by example and he can play a lot of different positions. He’s a very skillful player and he’s somebody that all the younger players can look up to.”
James Rosso is back after a season where he was named an Eastern Mass. All-Star, and his job will be to put goals in the back of the net. Rosso, who Carlin said came into camp in great shape as he ran the 2-mile in under 11 minutes, was near the tops of goal scoring last year in the Patriot League.
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The last captain, Ryan King will also be joining Rosso as a goal-scoring threat from the forward and midfield positions.
Carlin will also be able to rest easy as the top-four defenders from last year, which made up one of the best units in the league, are all back and ready to build on a successful 2010 season.
Kevin O’Neil, Will Harlow, Phillip Agostino and Awtry all make up the unit in from of two new goaltenders.
Simon Merriweather and Kevin Blair are in a solid competition for the starters position in net. Neither player has played goalie on a full-time basis, but Carlin said neither goalie has let up a goal during the preseason.
Merriweather has played three years on varsity for the Harbormen, while Blair, who is an accomplished lacrosse player, is in the soccer program for the first time.
