Head Coach Bill Keating of St. Ed’s varsity boys soccer team was asked what he knows now that he didn’t know when he started out 21 years ago.
“Expect the unexpected even more so than before,” was his reply after a moment of introspection, and that will be especially true as the early part of the season unfolds.
The first example came last week in the opener at home against Master’s Academy. The Pirates faced a 2-0 deficit as the first half was about to expire, and it would have been 3-0 if the goal post didn’t reject another shot destined for the net.
Then all of a sudden everything came together with the help of a friendly breeze. James Pizzo took a feed from Juan Torres and ripped one in from the right side to cut the deficit in half just before the intermission. With a steady wind at their back in the second half, the Pirates applied constant pressure the rest of the way. Torres tied the game before Zach Alerte tucked the game winner into the corner of the net for a come-from-behind 3-2 stunner.
Afterwards Keating described the beginning of the game as “physical and sloppy. It took our young players a while to get over nerves. We had typical first-game jitters. It was a gritty comeback and the guys showed great heart and potential.
“But we are going into the season with the philosophy that every game is a learning experience. We see this year as being another building process. The fortunes of soccer swing back and forth at a school like this. Kids don’t come here to play soccer. They come here for the academics and then we do what we can to teach them some soccer and help them have a good time with a winter sport.”
Keating hopes this game proves to be a microcosm of the entire season. Only two seniors started against Masters. The three stars of the game were two freshmen, Torres and Allan Ross, and sophomore Max Lindenthal. Ross and Lindenthal were recognized for their performances on defense.
“Right now we are at somewhat of a low point in terms of experienced upperclassmen,” Keating acknowledged. “But we have a number of freshmen with club team experience. We will mix them in with the guys who’ve been around for a couple of years and search for chemistry. That will be the big dynamic this year.”
Keating has a knack for “building” a team over the course of a season. He has 223 career wins through last week and his teams captured five consecutive district titles through the 2011-12 season. The schedule is tilted once again with 12 of 14 regular season games within the district.
The Pirates hit the road for game two against a familiar district nemesis in Pine School. Kevin Murphy fed Torres for the lone goal in a 3-1 defeat.
“The top two teams in our district as usual are Pine School and Holy Trinity Episcopal,” Keating said. “They just seem to reload every year. We know they are going to be at the top, so that’s who we shoot for.”
Keating identified just about every other team in the district as a threat, indicating that he expects the race to be wide open. “We could do very well. That will be determined by how the young guys do and how quickly they fit into the system.”
In addition to the players already mentioned, Keating is counting contributions from guys like Scott Marshall and Michael Puskar. He has two promising international exchange students in Daniel Johansen from Norway and Karol Stoltenberg from Germany.
Keeper Peyton Klein was described as “our real team leader. Then after that we just have a group of good young athletes working hard to fill in some of the other spots. It’s a good group of guys. I think it’s neat to try to establish a rapport between them and see that develop throughout the season. We want the seniors to finish strong and the younger guys to develop and fulfill their promise.”
Juniors Alerte and Murphy have new positions as second year varsity players. Keating constantly moves people around to field the most competitive and balanced lineup possible.
“I will be playing center back and I’m looking forward to it,” Murphy said with a touch of irony. “This is my first time playing this position. Last year I played in the midfield area, but I’ve always been defense-oriented. We are definitely younger than last year but we’re working better as a unit this year. There’s still a lot of time left to see how we’re going to do.”
The soft-spoken Alerte said “I’m going to be playing outside (right) midfield. I think I’m better suited to play defense, but the team looks good this year. I believe we will have a good season. And an interesting one.”
