(Oakland) A talented class of freshmen are expected to step in and make an impact for Riverside boys soccer.
The Bulldogs are coming off of a 3-9 season. Coach Rick Ryun is looking for some talented youngsters to contribute this season. “I’m pretty excited this year. There’s seven freshmen who came out and there’s a lot of talent. I’m going to be relying on two or three of those guys. Keagan Allensworth on defense, Dawson Henderson to try and score some goals, and Aaron Smith will be a defender. Wyatt Bell, we are going to put him at goalie.”
Nine upperclassmen represent the team’s experience. “All of them have played a lot of soccer. The last couple years we’ve had low numbers so they were on the field. They have a lot of experience. I’m going to rely on those guys. Juniors Dalton Smith, Abe Schechinger, Kyler Rieken, Anthony Bernard, and Kaden Pleas. We are left with four seniors that have played a lot-Caleb Stevens, Aiden Bell, John Gonzales and Braydon Hill. Really going to be looking for Aiden Bell and Braydon Hill to have big years and do a lot of the scoring for us.”
Coach Ryun says they’d like to get back up towards being one of the top programs in the Western Iowa Conference. “We’d like to get back towards the top of the conference standings. It’s very competitive. We’d like to move up in the standings kind of like where we were 3-4 years ago. I want the program to improve, the kids to improve. We want o have fun. Obviously we’d like to make it to the state tournament some day. We’ve been close. That’s kind of a big goal for us.”
There are a couple of areas the Bulldogs want to make sure they improve. “Our biggest weakness last year was our passing. We need to sharpen up our fundamental skills with our passing and footwork. A lot of these kids are athletic so they are fast already. They can move and know how to play soccer. A big adjustment for the new guys coming in will be how physical varsity soccer is.
Riverside travels to Missouri Valley for their season opener on Thursday, March 30th.
Riverside coach Rick Ryun:
