The FZN soccer team recently defeated Ritenour (7 - 2) for their fourth consecutive win to start the season. The Panthers also won their pool at the recent FZ Tournament completed last week. The early season success may be somewhat of a surprise to local soccer observers as the Panthers have already doubled last season's win total. Head Coach Chris Stockmann pointed to the experience the team gained last season as a key reason for the team's strong start, "It's kind of rare to have sixteen returning players on a team. We hope this experience will continue to pay dividends as we move through the season." Despite the fact the Panthers are still in the early stages of the 2018 season, the team has already scored more goals than all of 2017. The Panthers have a had a number of players standout in this early portion of the schedule. Third-year starter and team co-captain Thomas DeAvilla, who plays forward and midfielder for the Panthers, has played a major role so far this season. DeAvilla leads the Panthers with six early season goals and was mentioned by Stockmann as a, "key to our success". Two-sport athlete (Soccer and Cross Country) Cole Sutton, in his fourth year as a varsity team member and team co-captain, is also off to a nice start for the Panthers. He has recorded three goals thus far this season. Sam Travis has also chipped in offensively with two goals of his own. The Panther backfield has been led by the presence of Elijah Quiles and Owen Sears. Quiles is back from an injury that kept him out most of last season. Sears also serves as the placekicker for the varsity football team. Freshmen Davis Herbst, the latest in a lineage of three brothers to play for the FZN soccer program, has emerged as the team's primary keeper. Stockmann also mentioned transfer student Owen Lathrop as a, "quality addition" to his maturing squad.
This Thursday (9/6) the Panthers will travel to face rival Fort Zumwalt South in a game that is sure to serve as an early season test. The game is the first conference (GAC Central) game for both schools and is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm. Next week, the Panthers get into the heart of their conference schedule with games slated against Washington (9/11 @ FZN) and Timberland (9/13 @ Timberland).