Season Preview: John Jay Boys Soccer

John Jay goes into this boys soccer season fortunate to have one of the best players in the section in senior attacking midfielder Gabe Stauber. Stauber is a four-year varsity starter who will be playing in college next fall at Dartmouth.

Stauber is excited about going there but first wants to help his John Jay teammates to a successful campaign this fall. After going 7-9-2 a year ago, Stauber is confident that he and his teammates will be back to being contenders for playoffs and championships.

"I'm very excited about this year," Stauber said. "The team is very focused going into this season. We have a lot of young, talented skill players. We have been working hard and we should have a very successful season this year."

One of the things that makes Stauber valuable, according to John Jay coach Paul Neidell, is that he's a phenomenal distributor of the ball.

"Gabe has the ability to make passes that you would expect a player of his ability to make and he can also make a pass against the grain, one that's not expected," Neidell said. "He slots balls through the holes constantly. He also has the ability to score and he's a great defender too. You're lucky when you get a player with his ability."

Another talented senior that will be playing for the Tribe this year is center-back Matteo Fabbri, who is a three-year varsity player. Fabbri is a good one-on-one defender with good vision of the field, said Neidell.

Two other John Jay seniors who are also three-year varsity players are senior striker Joe Webb and outside midfielder David Egeler.

"Joe brings the ability to play the ball quickly," Neidell said. "His runs off the ball have just gotten so much better over the years."

Egeler is someone who is a very good technical player and has really improved on his finishing, he said.

"All four of these guys just love to play soccer," Neidell said. "They have fun doing it. That is one of the things we really emphasize."

Another player that will help John Jay this fall is two-year varsity player, junior Eric Lavelanet, an extremely versatile player who can play anywhere on the field.

"Eric's also a very good technical player who loves to play the game," Neidell said.

With six sophomores on the roster, Neidell said that the leadership of the seniors will be very important in implementing the Indians' game plan.

"We do need the leadership of the seniors to make sure that everybody steps up to the next level," Neidell said. "We can play at a very quick pace. There are two things we are really stressing at this point and that is there are two different ways we are looking to play."

Neidell went into detail what those ways are.

"One is where we can be able to play, where we can sit back, look to the net and look to absorb pressure and counter-attack when that opportunity is available," Neidell said.  "We also, depending on the opponent that we are playing, we need to be a team that can maintain possession of the ball and be the team that is controlling the flow of play the majority of the game too."