By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
The Southern Aroostook varsity boys soccer team will strike a balance of seasoned players (10 returning starters) with a talented group of incoming freshmen.
Coach Cliff Urquhart said so far, “the kids are working hard and are really excited for the season to start.”
Last year the Southern Aroostook Warriors finished 10-5-2 with a 4-2 loss in the semifinals to Ashland. It was the fourth time in five years that Southern Aroostook has been to the Eastern Maine semis.
Urquhart said All-Aroostook midfielder Cody Lassonde, along with All-Aroostook forward Cameron Landry, are primed to be the top scorers on the team. Lassonde finished with 19 goals last year, with Landry tallying eight as a striker.
“This year I will be asking Cody to make more aggressive offensive runs and be in the box more,” explained Urquhart. “And Cameron will start the season at left striker. He does a good job at winning the ball in the air and has a good cross from the left side.”
Joining Landry on the front line will be senior Trent Cullinan (three goals) and freshman Jackson Mathers.
“Trent has really stepped up and improved his game beginning the last half of last season,” said Urquhart. “He’s making smart runs and distributing the ball to where it needs to be.
“When Jackson is aggressive and goes hard at the ball he is one of those rare freshmen that plays like an upperclassman,” added Urquhart. “I look for some really good things out of him.”
Another player who could potentially see some time on the front line is junior Alex White.
Along with Lassonde at midfield will be junior Parker Walker and sophomore Josh Perrin.
“All three of those guys “think’ the game well and play a good control game,” said their coach.
Some others who will push for some major playing time at midfield, according to Urquhart, will be freshmen Luis Morales, Tyler Batchelder and Robbie Lillis.
Defensively, the team “took a major hit,” said Urquhart when All-Aroostook and All-East player Mason Caron graduated last June.
“However, we have a good group of upperclassmen with a lot of experience in the backfield, “ said Urquhart.
Leading that group in the sweeper position will be junior Gage Lefay and filling out the line at fullback is junior Matt Tarr and senior Will McGary. Senior Logan Buckley could be the opening day stopper. Anchoring the net is second-year starting junior starter Austin White. Also contributing to the defense will be freshman Nolan Altvater.
Rounding out the roster is senior transfer Austin Burpee from Narraguagus, who will play multiple positions; sophomore Dragon Gross-Thibodeau and freshman Ian Sonderman.
Urquhart will be looking for leadership on and off the field from his veterans, who will help the younger players learn more about the “mental aspect” of the game.
“Our goal is to finish the season somewhere in position to host a playoff game,” said Urquhart. “It’s never healthy to make predictions or to set lofty expectations. I think it can put too much pressure on kids. We know what we have returning and what we have coming in as freshmen. There are a lot of good teams in Class D this year.”
Among those teams are Mars Hill, Easton, Ashland, Wisdom, Washburn, Bangor Christian and Machias.
“These ones pop out at me as being the elite of the group,” added Urquhart.
A year ago, the Warriors only scored 34 goals during the season. Urquhart realizes the strength of the Warriors will be the ability to play solid and smart defense, while controlling the ball on offense.
“I don’t see us as being a kick-and-run team like you primarily see in Class D because overall we really lack elite speed to do that,” he said. “We practice and preach ball control non-stop. It will definitely be a key to our success. We will also continue to be a team who goes out there and wants to win every ball, challenges everything and making things difficult for the other team.”
