(Avoca) AHSTW’s senior class in soccer has gone 44-7 over the course of their career. The Vikings aren’t looking to take a step back this year.
AHSTW lost a ton of talent to graduation, but coach James Johnson doesn’t expect much of a drop off in their play. “I really think that we can continue with that success. We lost a huge number of seniors, 14 of them last year. I think people are probably looking at us to not have as much success, but I don’t think that’s the case. The talent is still there.”
Raydden Grobe returns after posting 7 goals and 8 assists as a freshman. Others offensive weapons ready to take on bigger roles include Jaedan Rasmussen and Blake Tuma.
Their defense, which allowed just 22 goals in 21 matches last year, is still expected to be a strength. Henry Luna and Jay Patel are ready to join proven veterans Seth Keisel and Clayton Akers defensively. Cole Branan is another player ready to step into a bigger role. Lucas Young is back in goal for his 4th season of varsity play. Coach Johnson looks to play a little bit different style with few subs to turn to on the bench. “We led the state last year in scoring. I don’t anticipate that’s going to be the case again, but the great thing about soccer is you don’t need ten goals to win. I think we are as solid as they get on defense. You only needs 2-3 goals to win and I think we win a lot of games that way this year.”
Among the key people to replace from last year are Brayton Tuma, Gabe Madsen, Blake Osbahr, and Kyle Branan who combined to score 92 goals last year. One of the big keys will be doing their best to keep everyone fresh with a much shorter bench than they’ve had in recent seasons.
