Larkin, Elgin coaches gear up for new soccer season

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By nature, Larkin boys soccer coach Ken Hall and Elgin coach Dave Borg begin every season with a renewed sense of optimism, regardless of what happened the year before.

So it should be no surprise that both veteran coaches are once again giddy with preseason excitement heading into today's first official day of practices.

"I think we will be better than solid," said Hall, whose Royals finished a respectable fourth in the Upstate Eight Conference last season and 17-6-4 overall record. "We have good scorers and a defense that is rock solid.

"We aren't that team with one or two standout players, but we have a lot of depth."

Larkin's hopes are centered around one of the area's largest returning senior classes, led by All-Area selections Fernando Alvarez and Raul Sandoval.

Alvarez is the team's top defensive player, while Sandoval has led the team in scoring the past two seasons.

Other expected key contributors include Raziel Somarriba, Mike Gloss, Carson McFadden, Danny Hinterlong and Misael Hernandez, among others.

"I have 16-17 players that can start on this team," Hall said. "I've never coached a deeper high school team.

"I'm ready to get the (preseason) started and I think the boys are too."

On the other side of town, Borg is betting on junior Omar Jasso and his teammates to pick up for any slack left by graduated all-conference performers Lucas Valencia, Roberto Quintana and Joel Perez.

Last season the Maroons finished 11-10 overall after concluding the season with a 3-0 loss to regional host Lake Park in the title match, denying the program its first-ever regional championship.

Still, the year was deemed successful and promising by Borg when it was all said and done.

"We lost some really good players who were around for a long time, but we have a lot returning," said Borg, who is entering his eighth season at the school. "On paper, this could turn out to be the best season we've had since I've been here. I'm very excited about the possibilities with this group."

Elgin's biggest strength will likely be on the defensive side of the field. The Maroons return both of their goalkeepers who alternated starts last season, juniors Nikil Satish and Osiel Ravadan, as well as stalwart senior defenders Kevin Rodriguez and Joel Montes. Jasso will likely be the team's top offensive weapon.

"(Jasso) is more than capable of stepping up and being our go-to guy on offense," Borg said. "On defense we are going to be fine. We have two great (goalkeepers) and a strong back line. Everyone will be a year older and a year better.

"I think it's going to be tough to crack our starting lineup with all the starters we have coming back (8)."

Rockets changing gears -- Burlington Central coach Michael Gecan has decided to make a risky change with the defensive game plan the Rockets will employ this season.

"We are looking towards zone defending," said Gecan, who introduced the defense, designed to draw opponents off-sides more often, during the summer. "It should be interesting to see how it works. The preseason will be important for us to get comfortable using it."

Run more and more by some of the top collegiate programs, a zone defense in high school can often prove much more difficult because of the pressure it puts on referees to make calls that can be tough to judge from a distance. In comparison to college, where there are at least three referees working a game, high school has only two until the postseason.

"You have to play as a team to make it work," said Gecan of the 4-4-2 formation. "Everything depends on communication. We have the talent defensively to do it, but everyone will have to be on the same page.

"We might get punished during the season a couple times, but by the time regionals roll around we hope to have it down."

Gecan does have a fallback plan -- as in senior goalkeeper Kyle DeRaedt. "(DeRaedt) can make up for a lot of the mistakes. Outside of him, we have a lot of young players, but it will definitely be one big plus having him back there."