Season Previews

[danicalifornia]

With the season fast approaching, does anyone have a preview on their school or their favorite team?

You could format it this way:
Last Season's Record
Returning Starters
Big Games
Season Outlook

Or Just throw out some facts or opinions about the upcoming season. It should be another great season in SE Ohio soccer!

[danicalifornia]

Unioto Sherman Tanks(Boys)
HC: Gary Sallade(126-38-22 in 10 seasons)

Last Season: 12-6-0, lost 5-2 to Hillsboro in the Sectional Finals
Returning Starters: 7
Big Games: 8 games from 8/30-9/20, including Waverly, Chillicothe, Valley, Zane Trace, Lancaster, and Jackson
Season Outlook: The Shermans, who started 3 to 5 freshman at times last season, are still very young and have some very good individual talent. But, the challenge in recent years has been getting that talent to play together. That will be the biggest challenge again this season. They start off at Logan Elm, in what should be used to get the team some confidence, before taking on Minford and getting into that killer 8 game stretch.

The Shermans have several quality players and some very good underclassmen as well. This season could either be very good, or very long, depending on how the team comes together. I look for the Shermans to struggle with Wheelersburg and Webster this weekend, but starting to come together after that.

Season Prediction: 10+ wins for the 9th straight year and a sectional title(I could be, being very optimistic though)

[Keegan]

The South Webster Jeeps look to be a rebuilt team this year. Last year they won the SOC DI title for the 5th straight year and return 6-7 starters because some changes were made throughout the season last year. Key losses that they suffered were both of their goalies and 2 defensive starters to graduation. They also lost sophmore Dillan Lewis, who transferred to Wheelersburg. South Webster will look to 2 sophmores, Brandon Malone and Connor Scott, to anchor their defense this year. In the midfield they will return with some experience as sophomores Zach Wright, Josh Wright, Adam Rice, Brice Patterson, and junior Braden Ruth all saw significant playing time throughout the previous year. The Jeeps will also return leading goal scorer Matt Malone up front.

The key for the Jeeps success this year will be the acquisition of some new players and see how the players can contribute on the field. The Jeeps always have a pretty good non-league schedule that usually consists of Jackson, Athens, Alexander, and Zane Trace. I look for the Jeeps to win SOC D1 this year and have a 10 or better win season.

[vballsoccer178]

South Webster & Athens tied tonight 1-1 in a scrimmage.

Athens center mid #9 scored on a well placed shot just outside the 18 yd box. (their midfielders are pretty strong. Matt Malone had the goal on a through ball from Braden Ruth. It was a good game. Athens probably had more possession time, but both teams had good opportunities to score a couple more.

[pcohio]

Waverly played their first scrimmage last night and defeated Jackson 4-2...
All of this while having 3 to 4 starters/key reserves out injured!
They have a good mix of upper and underclassmen (they started 2 Freshmen, 1 Sophmore, 3 Juniors and 5 Seniors yesterday) on the squad and I think they will make a deep run in the SOC..
They will scrimmage Warren Saturday at 1:00pm in Waverly, which should be a good early season test for the Tigers!

[pcohio]

Oops...Waverly plays Warren at 3:00pm (not 1:00pm)

[Bucknuts]

Athens @ Chillicothe Today

JV 4 PM; Varsity follows...

McVicker Field (Mt. Logan School)

Grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, perfect weather, two teams who always play each other tough.....promises to be a good time.

[Bucknuts]

2008 Chillicothe HS Men’s Soccer Team Preview

Team: Chillicothe High School
Mascot: Cavaliers
Colors: Royal Blue / White
League: Southeastern Ohio Athletic League (SEOAL)
Division: 2
District: Southeast

Head Coach: Michael D. McCorkle (11th year)
V Assistant: Zachary Breth (2nd year)
JV Coach: Tom Younge (10th year)
JV Assistant: John Buchanan (2nd year)

2005-2007: 38-16-5 over the last 3 seasons

2007 Results: Record of 15-2-2 (Best in school history)
SEOAL Champions
Southeast District D2 #1 tournament seed
District semi-finalist

Returning Varsity Letterman: 9
Returning Starters: 4

Drew Basil (Grade 11), Tony Skowronek (Grade 11), Paul Horning (Grade 10), Gabe Seymour (Grade 10)

2008 Outlook:

The Cavaliers are coming off their best season in school history, but a season that ended in disappointment. The Cavaliers lost in the districts for the third straight year. This time to a Marietta squad that the Cavs handled 3-0 earlier in the season. While competing in the southeast district tournaments the Cavaliers have reached the district level 5 of 6 years, and have reached the district final 4 of those 6 years, with just one district title to show for their efforts.

The goals of this year’s team will be very simple. Repeat as SEOAL champions and win a district title. To do this the Cavaliers will have to overcome the loss of 7 senior starters. Much talent and experience was lost to graduation, including 3 starters on defense and the starting goalkeeper.

On the bright side the Cavaliers return their two leading scorers in Juniors Drew Basil and Tony Skowronek. The Cavs also return 7 other varsity lettermen, including midfielder Gabe Seymour, defenseman Paul Horning, and back-up goalkeeper Koty Chandler. 9 of the Cavs likely starters played club in the spring and have made great strides in their development.

Drew Basil was Third Team All-State last year as a sophomore. He was also a First Team Southeast District selection, All-SEOAL, and the team’s MVP. He finished the season with 10 goals and a team-leading 24 assists.

Tony Skowronek was also a First Team Southeast District and All-SEOAL selection. He led the team in scoring from his Forward position netting an impressive 27 goals on the season. He also logged 6 assists.

Together Basil and Skowronek accounted for 50% of the team’s goals and 53% of the team’s assists. It is no secret to the opponents of the Cavaliers who they will need to stop to be victorious.

Basil and Skowronek are good enough to carry the team, and that’s just what they may need to do early on in the season while the team breaks in some new players and gains some valuable experience.

Chillicothe’s schedule includes some great match-ups at home including games against Jackson, Logan, Zanesville, Teays Valley, Circleville, and cross-town rival Unioto. Key away games include Marietta, Warren, Logan, Jackson, Waverly, Xenia, and Bishop Watterson.

Last year the Cavaliers were playing some of their best soccer of the year at season’s end. They were winners of 10 games in a row including the SEOAL Championship game on the road at top-ten state ranked Warren, and then came a huge lay-off. An 11-day wait between the SEOAL Championship game and tournament play took away the team's sharpness. The staff has tried to eliminate that problem this year by adding a game after the SEOAL Day-of-Champions game. The Cavs have scheduled D2 Central District Bishop Watterson the week before tournament play begins. They were a regional semi-finalist a year ago. That game should tell everyone a lot about how far the Cavs have come as a program.

The 2008 Cavaliers willl be young, and much smaller. The team will be far less experienced than a year ago. There will be many times this season when the Cavs are playing without any seniors on the field, but the potential for another great year is there. This team has many talented young players, many of whom saw valuable varsity minutes last year in anticipation of this year’s rebuilding season. The schedule sets up pretty well for Chillicothe early with 6 of the first 8 games at home. This is a huge plus. Chillicothe will also host the SEOAL Day-of-Champions game this year. (The championship game rotates each year between the East and West Divisions)

The goal is to win the league championship, and then show better in the districts. The last few seasons have ended a little sooner than Chillicothe players and fans wanted, or anticipated. It has left the players hungry, and that’s a good thing.

[danicalifornia]

Waverly looked very good offensivly against Warren today and was up 3-0 when I left. The freshmen for Waverly were very impressive and they were at their best when #2 was on the pitch. I did see a couple of weaknesses for Waverly, but you'll have that with early scrimmages, but I see a very good season for Waverly this year.

Warren got very frustrated and chippy throughout the 2nd half. The big guy up front is very active and could be a very good weapon if he is used wisely this season.