By Eric Eaton
HoosierAuthority.com
The Tri-Central Trojans captured the 2007 Hoosier Heartland Conference boys soccer title with a perfect 3-0 mark.
However, the 2008 season will get underway with Tri-Central having to replace 11 graduated seniors.
Carroll and Lafayette Central Catholic, who each took the Trojans to overtime last season, both return at least seven starters to the field for the 2008 campaign.
Therefore, one would expect all three games between the three schools to once again be well worth the price of admission this season.
Also, expect Rossville to show some major improvements this season after going 1-14 last year in its first season of varsity competition in the sport.
Here’s a capsule team preview of all 4 schools from the HHC that compete in boys soccer (Note: neither Clinton Central nor Clinton Prairie compete in the sport)
Carroll (Flora)
Coach: Dave Falkenberg
2007 Record: 7-10, 1-2 HHC (3rd place)
2007 State Tournament: lost to Northwestern 4-0 in the semifinals of the Logansport Sectional
Returning Starters: 7
Top Players:
Chase Meade-SR forward (12 goals and 4 assists last year)
Michael Myer-JR midfielder (10 goals and 6 assists last year)
Steven Arendsen-SR forward (5 goals and 1 assist in ’07)
Justin Moffit-SR sweeper (2 goals and 3 assists last season and was voted the team’s MVP)
2008 Outlook: “We have very high expectations with this being our most skilled group ever. However, we will lack some experience as several freshmen will either be starting or playing significant roles. We are heavy on freshmen and heavy on seniors.” – Carroll coach Dave Falkenberg
Interesting Tidbit: Seniors Cody Abdon and Justin Moffit have played on every soccer team that Carroll has ever fielded. Soccer was introduced as a varsity sport during their freshman year’s, so I guess you could say they have been the building blocks for the school’s program.
Lafayette Central Catholic
Coach: Jacob Hatke
2007 Record: 8-7, 2-1 HCC (2nd place)
2007 State Tournament: lost to McCutcheon 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Lafayette Jefferson Sectional
Returning Starters: 8
Top Players:
Peter Gettings-SR midfielder
Owen White-SR goal keeper/midfielder
Reed Drysdale-JR defender
2008 Outlook: “Central Catholic is looking to be very competitive in the conference this year with a challenging schedule to prep them for conference play.” – Lafayette Central Catholic coach Jacob Hatke
Rossville
Coach: Joe Wilson
2007 Record: 1-14, 0-3 HHC (4th place)
2007 State Tournament: lost to Lafayette Jefferson 9-0 in the semifinals of the Lafayette Jefferson Sectional
Returning Starters: 6
Top Players:
Russell DeWitt-SR defender
Nick Grady-SR midfielder
Jonathon Fuchs-JR defender
Derek Leahy-JR defender
Ian Brown-SO forward
Creighton Suter-SO midfielder
2008 Outlook: “We are looking to build on our successes from last year. Our record does not reflect the improvement our team made by the end of the season. We are a young team, but talented. As each player’s game matures, I see us being a versatile team with several individuals that can score. We have good leadership in our seniors and our back four defenders have become a solid unit.” – Rossville coach Joe Wilson
Tri-Central
Coach: David Mast
2007 Record: 14-3-1, 3-0 HHC (1st place)
2007 State Tournament: lost to Tipton 2-1 in the championship game of the Tipton Sectional
Returning Starters: 3
Top Players:
Kyle Wyant-goal keeper (5 shutouts last season and had only one game where he allowed more than 2 goals)
Kevin Ray-defender
Brendon Helton-midfielder
Levi Baker-forward (was the team’s third leading scorer last season)
2008 Outlook: “This will be a rebuilding year. We graduated 11 seniors last year and have a lot of vacancies to fill. Lafayette Central Catholic has a lot of seniors so I expect them to be the team to beat in the HHC.” – Tri-Central coach David Mast
Key game: 8/26 – Lafayette Central Catholic @ Tri-Central
So
what do you think? Share your thoughts on our Boys Soccer message board.
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