(Oakland) Only three teams in Class 1A boys soccer have an undefeated record intact. One of them is Riverside.
Coach Rick Ryun points out a lot of time in the offseason with open gyms is paying off. “Getting the kids in their kicking the ball around has paid off with our passing. That and having seven seniors with their experience. They’ve played soccer their whole life. With some of the younger kids they’ve really had good chemistry out there which has led to some of our success so far.”
The 6-0 Bulldogs have a veteran group leading the way. They were poised for a big year. “Definitely. These boys I’ve coached since the first time they ever kicked a soccer ball. I knew when they became seniors that we’d have some really big goals and we’d be pretty good.”
Winning the Western Iowa Conference and getting to state are among the goals for the group. “Not only advance, but win some games there. That’s kind of the two big goals. Also trying to not just have success with this group, but let them teach the younger kids what we do and how we play so we can build a program.”
Saturday likely brings a big showdown with Treynor. “If Treynor beats Missouri Valley Saturday morning we will play Treynor Saturday. I’m really excited about that one because they are ranked in the state and they barely lost to St. Albert in overtime. That’s a huge matchup for us to see where we are at.”
Caden Manzer and Rhett Bentley each have five goals on the season. Manzer leads the team in assists with seven. Eli Ryun has 33 saves and an 86.7% save percentage. The team has given up just four goals in the first five games.
