Younger squads fill North Side GSL rosters

Joe Everson Correspondent Correspondent Mike Boyle contributed to

At most of the North Side high schools in the Greater Spokane League and Great Northern League, youth will be served this soccer season - with moderate to heavy graduation losses, coaches won't have a choice.

Mead will have four freshmen on the varsity, North Central will have eight sophomores and freshmen, Lakeside has only two seniors and Deer Park graduated nine, so experience will be at a premium this season.

A year ago, Shadle Park lost an elimination contest in the last game of the district tournament and missed a trip to state, but the Highlanders lost seven senior starters from 2003 and will start a freshman goalkeeper. Mt. Spokane, Rogers and Riverside have more experience than most of the others.

Shadle Park

Despite their losses, the Highlanders return 12 players from last year's varsity, including juniors Andy Largent and Dallas McIntyre, who will need to key Shadle's offense. Defensively, Leonard is looking for seniors Cory McCoy and Ryan Heth and sophomore Kyle Wirtz to take a leadership role.

In goal, John Mjelve will replace injured veteran Willie Northcott. Sophomore Adam Belotty is an offensive talent, while seniors Andrew Spitzer and Nic Ozust will start at the outside midfield positions. Juniors Ben Mjelve and Alex Mason will also get time at midfield.

Another freshman, Dane Dezellem, will work up front and at outside mid.

"We're predicted to be in the middle of the pack this season," said Leonard. "We don't have any stars, so our strength will be playing together as a team. The biggest challenge we face is scoring goals with a younger group - this is definitely a rebuilding year."

Mt. Spokane

The Wildcats return eight starters from a team that went 10-6 while starting five sophomores and a freshman. Their lineup will be mostly juniors with a few seniors mixed in. Coach Jeremy Ochse has 19 players and works to get most of them in the lineup.

"We want to build on last year," he said, "and I think we'll have more poise and maturity. I see us near the top, but who knows where? A lot of times, winning in high school is about learning how to win, building a tradition. At Mt. Spokane, we need to learn how to win game in and game out."

The senior class includes midfielders Kohl Crecelius and Mike Smalley, forwards Jared Crabtree and Lucas Boone, defenders Mike Maccini, Alex Cusick and Grayson Ervin and defender/midfielder Lewis Turner.

Junior Jeff Srock will start in goal. Other juniors are defenders Adam VanNoy, Drew Hill and Eric Bofenkamp, Jordan Marshall, Chris Zalud and Keith Kirsch and sophomore Mike Hartanov. Jeremy Fink will also battle for a starting spot.

North Central

"We're a year older and hopefully a year better," said coach Tim Cox. "We struggled last season but are hoping to make the playoffs. We lettered a lot of young guys last year, and we've started to click. If we're going to be successful, our team chemistry will have to get us there."

Leadership will come from senior sweeper Lamar Kumangai-McGee and forward Jake Walker. Senior Drew Harding gives the Indians a solid keeper, and senior Hani Elgiadi starts at stopper.

Cox has six other seniors: Jeremy Yeado, Braden McRae, Chad Primmer, Kevin Kelly, Sam Servatius and Bryan Eckman. There are only two returning juniors, defender Kris Higgins and midfielder Cody Clary.

NC has a strong sophomore class, led by forward Matt Stockinger and midfielders Nathan Law and Ryan Matern. Three other sophs could emerge as starters: Jamie Tamura at either midfield or forward, defender Greg Conley and midfielder Scott Harris. Two freshmen, midfielder Travis Green and defender Dustin Cummings, complete the Indians roster.

Rogers

As usual, the Pirate roster has representatives from several different countries. This season, Rogers features players from Panama, Bosnia, Russia, Jordan, Ukraine, Vietnam, Laos and Nigeria, as well as the United States.

"Our cultural diversity is a strength for our team," said 11th- year head coach Chris Sande. "Our international players have a passion for the game that is contagious and helps motivate all our players. I think that passion will translate into more wins this season."

Senior True Xiong is the team captain and will start at midfield. The Pirates will start two other seniors, midfielder Deji Adebayo and stopper Ryan Reisart.

Junior starters include striker Matt Bridges, sweeper Tony Brutskiy, defender Lich Pham and forward Valera Supran. Sophomores in the lineup are forward Alex Coco, defender Mike Holloman and goalkeeper Justin Erickson. One freshman, Admir Rosic, will start at center mid.

Mead

"In all his years here," said coach Travis Hanson, "Dick Cullen never had a freshman make the varsity, and previous to this, I've only had two in eight years. I think the fact that I'm carrying four this year speaks to our need at the varsity level, but also to the fact that this is a group of very talented young kids."

"Who's starting? That's a wonderful question! I don't know all of them yet. We lost 12 guys altogether, including eight starters. We don't lack talent, but we do lack experience. I'm confident that our core group will be able to get the job done."

Four seniors will start - keeper and co-captain Ryan Jordan, forwards Jon Anderson and David Batt and midfielder Kevin Bourland. Anderson was a sprinter for the Panthers' track team last season, and Batt's last soccer season was as a freshman. Junior co-captain Mike Hoover will start at midfield and Austin Hatcher at defender.

Sophomore Ian Matson is back at defender or mid and two of the freshmen, midfielder Michael Shriver and speedy forward Chris Windham will get early starts.

Gonzaga Prep

The Bullpups finished 8-7 last season in the GSL but were decimated by graduation, with just three starters back from that team.

"It's going to be a really, really young team for us this year," said head coach Christian Birrer. "Our starting lineup will be predominantly underclassmen. Our midfield will be all freshmen and sophomores."

Junior forward Max Mean will lead the Bullpups up front, while senior Bernie Rihn and junior Matt Brasch return in back for G-Prep. Senior Matty Davis will join Mean up at forward, along with sophomores C.D. Roberts and Xan Gilmartin. Senior Jon Schmitz, and junior Lee Barker are the only upperclassmen in midfield, as sophomores Greg Hilbert, Scott Legel and freshmen Matt Wakeley, Morgan De Shazo, and Ryan Kunkel will be counted on for major playing time.

On defense, juniors Danny Anderson and Austin Lanier and sophomore Brock Trotter will look to keep things clear in front of keepers, senior Chris Williams and junior Jonathan Ehrenberg.

"It's going to be called a steep learning curve," Birrer said. "I really trust these guys, though. They have a great work ethic, (are) very coachable, and have a tremendous amount of potential."

Riverside

The Rams have nine seniors, most of them starters. Forward Chris Bruner, midfielder Brad Holland and defender Jason Bronkhorst have been varsity players since their freshman year, and defender John Irwin enters his third varsity season. Bronkhorst was first-team all- GNL last season, while Bruner and Irwin earned second team honors.

"The GNL is tough," said coach Donny Hodson, "but I see us as one of the top teams. We have more experience, more skills and more talent this season than we had a year ago. It'll be hard to replace our goalkeeper, but our kids worked hard in the off-season."

Seniors Andrew Murray, Pat Ward and Levi Eggert will also start, along with junior midfielders Jeff Thompson and Pat Smart and sophomores Brady Ostendorf and goalkeeper Robbie Scott. Top reserves are sophomores Eric Kuno, John Kummer, Cameron Dornquast and Cameron Craddock, seniors Willie Hansen and Tyler Spies and junior Danny Woodman.

"Our biggest challenge will be putting the ball in the back of the net," said Hodson. "Last Saturday, we had 24 shots against Ellensburg and scored only once. I'm not worried about our defense, though."

Deer Park

The Stags lost nine seniors from the team that won the league last year and will have big adjustments to make, particularly on defense. But their midfield is strong with returning seniors, and coach Rob Champoux landed a productive junior transfer.

The midfield group includes Isaac Dowers, Lee Morgan and Ross Holman, all four-year starters. Senior Tanner Veilette returns up front, and junior Brett Andreas, the California transfer, scored two goals in his first game. Junior defender Mark Huffman has started since his freshman season.

Juniors Lindel Serrin and Greg Gibson and senior Brandon Mullenberg are also on the back line, while sophomore John Morris is at stopper and sophomore Alex Lawson, who played DP's final three varsity games last year, returns in goal. Junior Patrick Ferry is a backup stopper.

"We'll be starting off with a young defense," said Champoux, "and it's pretty early to tell how we'll do. Our strength, obviously, is our experience at midfield. That group helps us defensively, and controls our offense as well."

Lakeside

The Eagles have their fourth head coach in four years in a program that has a 3-43 record in the last three seasons. Mike Reeder is the new coach, hoping to engineer a turn in the right direction and establish a foundation for the kind of success which Lakeside has enjoyed in other sports.

"We have 30 players out this year, so we'll be able to field a junior varsity," said Reeder. "Probably 25 of those guys will see some varsity time, which I hope will help make everybody better. The problem here has been that our kids don't play soccer together in the off-season, which is what happens in more successful programs."

Reeder, an assistant last year, feels that the future is bright, however. He has two returning seniors, four-year midfielder Jordan Pyeatt at midfield and forward Sam Becker. Junior transfer Kevin Thompson will start at center midfielder. Other returners are junior forward Tony Greco, second-leading scorer (and wrestling star) Levi Jones and midfielder Jason Reeder.

Sophomore returner Carl French will share time in goal with newcomer Chris Moore. Junior Jed Ryan is an athletic newcomer on defense, while freshmen Chris Phelan and Cameron Martin also show promise on the back line.

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