Evan Neely is back home. Shae Wirt is back home. Brennan Schroeder is back home. But the boys found theme in England's 2018 approach to the World Cup—and the Brits got so close to returning the cup to England this summer. And its well documented that the Brits really took a hard look at the deadball and their shortcomings over the past World Cups in that area. (They sent coaches to observe NBA basketball to summon new methods of creating space.) They became the best in the World at the corner kick!
So hopefully we can borrow more than just theme from England. No, we won't have all-staters Curt Whigham and Landon Wirt, but we will return a ton from last year's final-four team. And we have aged well. We will start 8-9 seniors—and that stat bodes well for any soccer team, but especially here at STA.
If we run some system with 3 across the top, we look for an all-senior front line of Matthew Carta, Jack Mason and Reid Howard (we know, he was all-state at centerback last season). With Jack at the 9, we have the fastest human at Aquinas there, and he can get to goal and create goals for others. We can even run a second line out there that doesn't drop off much, if at all, with sophomores Max Bryson and Zayveon Russell, along with senior Matthew Conner.
We will field a midfield that should be able to compete with any we come up against. Evan Neely, at the 10, will be as good as any other high school soccer player in the state. And he can move up the field as well. Joey Caragher will probably start at the 6 (second team ALL EKL as a junior), But we also have senior Esteban Arias who can play the 10 as well. Parker Stoeklein looks like the 8, with both sophomore Drew Welch and junior Jack Martin looking to get time there as well. Junior and STUCO president Gabe Kraft can play the 6 or either of the centerback spots. We have a lot of talent in the middle of the field, enough to play some diamond midfield as well this season.
Our backline will continue to be an Aquinas strength this year as well. We will feature one of our few underclassmen in the middle of the back in sophomore Mitchell Farrar (yes, he started as a freshman) who will pair with senior Andrew Payne. Jacob Colling comes off a great club season with Rush to take the right-back spot, and we will bring back Jacob Vance at left back (and his sweet corner kick with him). Senior Cristhian Consuegra can play any of the back spots as well. Obviously, Reid can grab some defensive minutes as well and sophomore DJ White just had a great summer for us.
Defending the net will be one of our strengths. Shae Wirt, a former Sporting Junior, should return to his starting spot with PJ Garcia backing him up. That's very strong.
We don't see our schedule offer so many chances usually, but this season should be even more entertaining as we travel to SM South and bring both Wichita North and Columbia Rock Bridge to STA—all new opponents. Even our bracket in the Go For Goal Classic brings completely different teams. We open with Quincy out of Illinois—the team we played in 2009 in the championship match of the National tourney.
On the coaching front, we have some NEW as well. Coach Turner has headed over to EKL rival, Blue Valley North, to guide the Mustangs. Coach Ragsdale will take over for him. And Coach Luengo is taking a year off with former UMKC midfielder, Caleb Mitchell, taking over for him to run the C-team. Former Aquinas varsity wing, Eric Ewing, will assist him.
Coach Ewing (year 31), Coach Hammons (year 25) and Coach BWhite (year 15) will all return to steer the varsity.
Hopefully, we will not only nab England's theme but also their desire to tweak what has held them back recently to see if we can actually (credit to Kyli Jackson) bring it home. We know Southwest returns a truckload from last year's title and is currently ranked in the Top 10 in the US in two separate polls. But a corner kick here and there can change a lot.
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