Wildcats Soccer Team Seeks More Now After Skipping Rebuild in 2010

After entering a season down 13 seniors from the year before, such as  did in 2010, sometimes there’s not much else to do but to hope for the best. And the Wildcats got exactly what they’d hoped for, plus a little more.

The admittedly young squad gelled immediately, sprinting to a 12-1 start and finishing 18-7 in 2010, also tying for third in a solid Suburban West (5-3).

“We exceeded expectations last year,” said Coach Gary Schneider in his second year as head coach. “We ended up a lot better than I think anyone had ever expected us to be, after losing 13 seniors from the previous season. But the boys came together and played pretty well, and we were pretty pleased with how the season turned out.

“We didn’t lose 13 seniors this year, but the seniors we did lose are tough to replace.”

Though the Wildcats will miss the standout leadership ability of graduates, such as Jeff Wallner, who is already contributing at Webster University this fall, the squad is poised to make strides considering the success of last season’s “rebuild.”

Success for Eureka in 2011 will be the product of its role players, dangerous with potential threats from any player on the field, and a different one in every game. Senior Jake Schoch returns to the front line in his third varsity season after leading the squad in goals (12) and scoring (32) in 2010. He will co-captain with fellow classmate Jake Jackson, who will anchor the defense and take over leadership both on and off the field.

The tenacious Parker Levy, a defensive-minded senior center midfielder, returns for his third varsity season, and junior Eric Hartsfield seems to have drank the Eureka kool-aid; the midfielder has gone from few minutes last year to wowing the coaching staff in the 2011 preseason for a potential starting spot.

The Wildcats may even have a few surprises up their sleeves this season. Schneider expects opponents to loathe the presence of junior keeper Connor Pahl, though he may catch the Suburban West off guard after sitting out all but one game in 2010 with an injury. Sophomore striker Kyle Gardner could be another impact player who stayed hidden by injury last season.

“The potential is there for us to be pretty decent, but right now we don’t really know how it’s going to turn out,” Schneider said. “There is a lot of work we need to do before we can get to where we were last year. Last year we were playing our best soccer at the beginning. This year, we’ve got to figure it out and be playing our best at the end.”

EUREKA HIGH BOYS' VARSITY SOCCER SCHEDULE

Note:  Away games shown in bold.