A season after losing a district final game to Parkway South, the boys soccer team is ranked fifth in the area with a 16-0-2 record as of Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Chris Kenny, coach, said he attributes the team’s success thus far to quality leadership, the team playing well together, and playing for one another rather than themselves. He added the team still has a lot of work to do during the rest of the season.
“Although we’ve had a good season so far, we have better competition coming up in our schedule so we’re cautiously optimistic,” Kenny said.
Kenny said there is no single player who is the key to the team’s success, but everybody on the team has played key roles at different periods of time.
The experience gained by the players who were on the team that made it to the district final last year is key to the success because those are players who have been there before and have an idea of what to expect, Kenny said.
He said with the games remaining, anything could happen, but he hopes the team can continue building on what they have done during the season.
“Success for the rest of the season will depend on the approach we take into the games, execution during the games, and playing under pressure,” Kenny said.
Keith Grieshaber, sophomore, said hard work and everybody knowing their roles on the team has helped the team stay undefeated throughout the season. He said practices run by Kenny have definitely helped as well.
“He treats us with respect and knows we have potential so he pushes us to the limit every practice,” Grieshaber said.
Grieshaber said having the year of high school experience he had last year as a freshman has helped him this year because he knew what to expect and that to be better he had to work even harder than last year. This hard work has paid off, as Grieshaber is leading the team with 20 goals and 41 points.
The seniors have had a major leadership role, which has helped with the team’s success this year, Grieshaber said. He said they know the right things to say at the right times.
Grieshaber said the team can have success against the rest of the teams on the schedule, including number one ranked DeSmet, if they work hard enough.
“Our goal is to win districts and if we accomplish that, our new goal will be to make it to the Final Four in the State tournament,” Grieshaber said.
Jordan Singer, senior, said the reasons for success so far this year are playing together as a team and having nobody that only plays for themselves.
Singer said Kenny makes sure the team stays focused on where they are because there are no easy games and no days off throughout the season.
He also said being a senior has allowed him to play with a lot of the players on the team for three years and allowed him to be coached by Kenny for three years, and that has helped the camaraderie among teammates as well as helped make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing.
The talented sophomore class has also helped the team win this year, Singer said. The sophomores of the team (excluding Grieshaber) have accounted for a combined eight goals and 25 points so far this year, according to stlhighschoolsports.com.
Singer said the team is hoping to get to the state finals, but that it will be a tough road to get there.
“We have to take it one game at a time,” Singer said. “Try to win each game, and if that doesn’t happen, then come out and play hard next time.”
All stats current as of Tuesday, Oct. 11.
