(Avoca, IA) – AHSTW boy’s soccer has started off this season with a tight loss to Grand View Christian and a loss to West Central Valley. Head Coach Michael Mertz has been taking things back to the basics with his boys to be able to get back on track in preparation for next week’s game against Van Meter.
The Vikings return their leading scorer from last season, Kayden Baxter who has had five shots on goal already this year. They also feature a new face at goalie Aiden Akers who has 46 saves through two games and currently posts an 85.2 save percentage. On the defensive end, Bryan Mertz, Kaeden Rold, and Sawyer Kiesel are all returning captains who are the glue of this team.
A couple of improvements that the Vikings are looking for are to work on their spacing out on the field as they sometimes lose their form. Coach Mertz wants his boys to work on composure and control on the field and not let the adrenaline rush get to them.
This group of boys are hard workers on the field, regardless of what the score is or how tired they are. They always show up with a ton of energy and excitement to progress their process toward success on the field.
AHSTW will be pulling a quick turnaround next week as they’ll be taking on Van Meter this coming Monday. One thing that AHSTW will have to rely on is their defensive game. Van Meter is a team that likes to play tough and AHSTW will have to step up on the defensive end to be able to take on this Bulldogs team. Van Meter features Caleb Moore who led the team with nine goals last season and has already earned an assist with the goal by Camden Reynolds against Des Moines Christian.
The Vikings will jump right into next week with the match at Van Meter High School which starts at 6:00 p.m.
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