Last year, 's boys soccer team won just one game, but sixth-year Coach Fernando Zappone is confident his squad will be able to record a dramatic turnaround this fall.
“We didn’t lose much as far as seniors go,” Zappone said. “We have a team that is a lot more mature. Last year, we had about seven starters who were only sophomores. They are juniors now. We also have a couple of new players this year that we didn’t have last year that should help us as well. They are not only mentally better, but also physically better.”
One of the Panthers’ team leaders is senior co-captain and defensive midfielder Ben Keller, a strong defender who is very focused.
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“He is a good leader as captain on and off the field,” Zappone said. “He is strong, he is good in the air and he is very fast. He has great speed.”
Another senior co-captain, Mike Taurone, will also be a mainstay on the Panthers’ defense. His game is similar to Keller’s, according to Zappone.
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The Panthers’ coach feels that the combination of Keller and Taurone is a huge one for his squad.
“It’s very nice to have,” Zappone said. “They have been playing together for a long time. Ben was actually a captain last year too. The other captains, he got along with them, but now having his best friend as the other captain is good for them and the rest of the team too.”
Providing plenty of speed up the field for the Panthers is junior forward Mateo Valdiviseo. The Panthers coach feels that this will be a huge year for him.
“He is the fastest kid on the team,” Zappone said. “He has great, great skill. He is a true soccer player, he plays all year round. We are hoping this year will be his breakout year, that he will score a lot of goals for us.”
Another player that provides plenty of speed to the Panthers offense is junior midfield/forward J.D. Schneider.
“He is very strong physically and also very fast,” Zappone said. “He can score, too.”
The maturation of the above players makes Zappone feel good about his squad’s chances for success after what happened a year ago.
“This year we are coming off a pretty bad season,” Zappone said. “We had a young team last year but it has gotten a lot more mature for this year. Our main goal is to make sectionals, which we didn’t last year and to go make it to at least the semifinals in the sectionals.”
Pleasantville will look to get this season off on the right foot when it hosts Westlake in its opener in the Mount Pleasant Cup at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 8. The consolation and championship games are at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at Valhalla High School.
“Last year we got off to a great start, we won it and then things unfortunately didn’t go our way after that,” Zappone said. “It would be great to win it, not so much for the tournament itself, but just to start the season off with two wins. That would be the most important thing to me.”
