Spring soccer teams keep the ball rolling around the calendar

Danny Breslauer
H.P. Mirror Staff

For a varsity soccer player, the season never officially stops. Double sessions kick off in August and the high school state tournament runs through the end of November. The intense cardio workouts of indoor season start right after the winter holidays and take players straight to the beginning of their outdoor traveling season after Spring Break. Those matches end as school wraps up in late June and captains’ practices bridge the gap to another group of late summer two-a-days.

The U19 (under 19 years old) division consists of many of the premier high school talents from each respective town on both the girls’ and boys’ side during spring traveling season.

Both Highland Park U19 squads completed their seasons during the first two weekends in June, with the boys finishing up at 5-2-3 and the girls posting a 4-6 record. The Owls boys team scored 17 goals on the season and only gave up 12, finishing with a 1.20 goals-against per match average. The HP girls’ squad scored 24 goals and gave up 21, scoring an impressive 2.4 goals per contest.

Stringent defense keys boys record

The Highland Park High School boys’ soccer program is known for tough defense. In 2005, the varsity squad held a 344-minute shutout streak, but that was when the current group of soon-to-be seniors was in their first year in the high school ranks. Only one Owl on this year’s spring team, goalie Chris Marshall, started regularly for the ’05 squad, then as a freshman between the pipes.

The spring squad is made up of seven players who will graduate this week and eight who will be seniors in the fall. Departing varsity starters include Derek Padgett, Jeff Shaw, Nelson Villeda and Colin Millet. Current and projected 2008 varsity starters also headline the team with Marshall being joined by classmates Daniel Sherrell, Jordan Breslauer and Monte Draper.

On May 31, the Owls defeated Bloomfield 4-0 in their second-to-last regular season game, with graduates Colin Davis, Villeda and Padgett joining a Breslauer 20-yard free kick strike on the score sheet.

Padgett, who scored 9 of Highland Park’s 17 goals this season, discussed the responsibility that the veterans feel during their post-grad club year.

“It’s a lot of fun since there’s less pressure on the guys in my grade,” Padgett said. “You’ve got to leave your legacy though before you graduate and helping the younger guys out will do that.”

Marshall, who will enter his fourth year as starting goalie this fall, gave his thoughts on the spring team while looking ahead to the Blue Division slate this fall as well.

“A lot of our guys with less experience can feed off of the lessons they get from the graduates,” Marshall said. “As for the fall, I think we have a good team with some solid freshmen coming in. Jose [Villeda, a fall sophomore,] and a lot of the other guys are really going to make us a solid team.”

The squad is directed by a trio of fathers—Rick Padgett, Rob Sherrell and head coach Mark Draper. The latter comments on the luxury of having a goalie like Marshall, whose stellar play kept a squad with a 1.7 goals per game average three games over .500.

“Confidence is a big thing for (Chris) Marshall and he’s really starting to take charge of his area,” Draper said. “He’s made some great saves and allowing only a little over a goal per game is impressive.”

Draper believes that improving the offense is priority number one for ninth-year head man Keith Roig’s squad this September. He conducted basic yet rigorous shooting drills to keep his players focused on getting the ball on net.

“All I want to see is them to keep focusing on what we’ve been working on,” Draper said. “They have to keep their fitness up and play hard. If they do that, they’ll play solid soccer.”

Offensive firepower lights up girls squad

The HP Owls girls’ soccer team hasn’t had any trouble finding the back of the net this spring season, connecting on 24 tallies in ten games. The offensive prowess on display certainly has varsity head man Chris Ruckdeschel smiling about the upcoming year.

Spring team head coach Celso Sanchez discussed the instant offense aspect of his team that hovered below .500 despite a positive goal differential.

“We have a very explosive team,” Sanchez said. “It’s my philosophy to have the girls try to score in the first ten minutes. I believe in an offensive game as well as getting the halfbacks involved in the attack, so there were a few times we had to pull back after five goals for sportsmanship’s sake.”

As opposed to the boys team, the girls squad has only three graduating seniors on its roster—Erin Sanchez, Clara Younge and Rachel McClelland.

“The three seniors bring so much to the table,” Sanchez said. “They have unlimited enthusiasm, they show up every day and they bring serious leadership qualities with them. It’s a great core of veterans to have.”

Sanchez emphasized the importance of his midfielders in the offensive onslaughts that his team is capable of. Junior Audrey Krum and sophomore Leah Salkin are two halfbacks that Sanchez wants to give “the freedom to score at all times.”

“They’re capable of scoring and they just need to keep thinking like that,” Sanchez said. “Halfbacks can be offensive and at the same time help out on the defensive end during counterattacks. It’s a matter of not being hesitant to be a playmaker and they’ve done well with that challenge.”

The head coach made it a point to mention the outstanding play of junior goalkeeper Abby Petkov. The hard-nosed net-minder received the utmost praise from her instructor.

“One of the biggest pieces of our team is the fact that Abby is such an accomplished goalkeeper and gives it her all, game-in and game-out,” Sanchez said. “She plays so tough and so hard in the net that she overcomes any and all doubts about her height and does a consistently great job for us.”

Like the U19 boys, the girls’ group is also led by three dads, as Sanchez (father of Erin) is joined by Jeff Krum (father of Audrey) and Saul Salkin (father of Leah). The former emphasized what he wants his players to take out of the season.

“Obviously, every coach wants his players to stay relaxed and have fun on a spring team,” Sanchez said. “However, the dynamic activity of passing is something I want them to continue to practice. They’ve really started moving without the ball and turning each pass into a small play and that’s exactly what they need to do to succeed. That’ll be a winning equation in the fall.”