In his second season as the Windsor boys soccer team’s head coach, Blake Miller said he hopes this year the Owls will progress in a few different ways.
In Miller’s first season, Windsor finished the season with an overall record of 9-12 and Jefferson County Activities Association mark of 1-3.
“Starting last season was tough figuring out what worked best for everyone and the way we can control, stay in games with everyone that was available,” said Miller, a Fox graduate. “Toward the end of the year, we became a very direct team hitting a lot on the counterattack, which we found a lot of success in. This year I still want to focus on that but also work on keeping the ball and possessing it, instead of our first instinct, to drive forward and not look back. Defensively, with our starting players they all have great stamina and speed so when we do lose the ball I would like to try and win it back immediately, and if not, to reset, and be patient and be unified when we defend.”
Toward the end of last year, Windsor played with a two-striker system, and seniors Austin Todtenhaupt and Chase Kraus flourished, each scoring 13 goals. Both were selected to the all-JCAA team; Kraus was a first teamer.
“Chase is really quick, and Austin is very skilled on the ball and he plays off everyone around him very well,” Miller said.
Seniors Connor Fagin (first team) and Austin French (honorable mention) each scored seven goals. Todtenhaupt and French give the Owls lots of firepower from the backfield. Fagin enters his fourth season in the midfield. Fagin can’t wait to get the season started.
“My job is to help lead the team and make sure everybody can do their part equally,” Fagin said. “I’m the distributor, so it’s my job to make something happen with the ball. We have a great chance to be very good. We lost some people, but we’ve gained some players coming in so this is going to be the best team we’ve had in a while.”
“Year after year, he’s been a leader,” Miller said of Fagin. “He’s always eager to try something new.”
The key loss to graduation was goalkeeper Caleb Haegele, a second-teamer. Sophomore Camden Follmer played in one game last year and gave up four goals in a loss to Sullivan.
“Camden Follmer will come in and be our starting goalie this year. He is very composed with the ball at his feet and has developed,” Miller said.
Other key players for the Owls this season are Vito Bertagna (sophomore, defense), Cohen Fagin (freshman, defense), Lucas Brockmeier (sophomore, defense), Jacob Buchholz (junior, midfield), Carter Crews (senior, forward) and Ryan King (sophomore, forward). The Fagins are brothers.
“Vito is also a very calm player for us when we have the ball playing from the back,” Miller said. “He is never too afraid to play that line passing the ball to one of our forwards or midfielders to start the attack. Cohen is one of our more technically sound players coming into the season.”
Windsor opens the season Sept. 1 at Union. Both teams were in Class 3 District 2 last season but didn’t meet. Webster Groves shut out the Owls 3-0 in districts.
This season each team in the JCAA will play home and away against the other four teams. Perryville is the defending conference champion and finished third in the state in Class 2 in 2025.
“I think I’m really going to enjoy it,” Miller said of the expanded conference schedule.
“It’s going to be fun to play the conference teams at home and away. Our conference overall is really competitive. I’m a big fan of Perryville’s program. When I played at Fox, they were a tough team to play. This year, we play them early and almost the last game of the season.”
The Missouri State High School Activities Association will release class and district assignments Aug. 28.
Tigers hope Portell brings winning ways
Challenge accepted.
Aaron Portell was the head coach of three sports (boys soccer, girls basketball, girls soccer) at St. Pius X. All three of those programs reached either the final four or the state championship game.
After being hired to be the head coach of the Festus boys soccer team, Portell is now in that position for three sports again. During the last school year, he led the Tiger girls basketball team to the Class 5 state quarterfinals and the girls soccer team to the Class 3 District 1 final, a 2-1 defeat to Mehlville.
Now, he takes over a beleaguered boys soccer program that had a record of 2-13-3 last season, and has won nine games in the last three years. The boys soccer program at Festus has to compete for student-athletes against the football and cross country programs, which are among the most successful in the state. Combined with a lack of success, Portell realizes his job first is to build confidence and consistency from the players.
“I don’t know what the most wins for the program is – I don’t think it’s many – but if we can get to eight or 10 wins, all of a sudden you build a culture the kids can be proud of.”
Kyle Warren returns as the assistant coach, and Portell said the plan is to work with Warren to stabilize the program before turning it over to him as head coach.
“I know what the Festus boys program has been like for years,” Portell said. “It’s not that they didn’t have good coaches. It’s just changing the culture and mindset. Coach Warren was coaching the boys last year, and I didn’t have an assistant coach, so I asked Kyle to help with the girls. Seeing how young and eager he was, (Festus activities director Jason Therrell) asked if I could guide Coach Warren for a couple of years, and (Warren) is a young guy just getting started out, and he’s got such a great future, I thought, ‘Let me help him out and hand it over in a couple years.’”
Portell believes the Tigers might not be as far away from success as their record indicates. Besides the three ties, four of their losses were by two or fewer goals. However, they scored more goals (11) in their two wins than in all of their losses (10).
While possessing a natural goal scorer is a challenge for any school, being able to stop them is in the good hands of returning goalkeeper Dalton Gamm. The junior played in 1,053 minutes and made 163 saves last season.
“I first met Dalton as manager for the girls (soccer) team, helping (girls soccer goalie Josie Hensley) out,” Portell said. “He plays with Scott Gallagher (club team). He’s a well-mannered young man who wants to help everybody. I know he’s young, but he’s a true leader. If we can protect him, he’ll keep the ball out of the net.”
Protecting Gamm in the middle of the field are center backs Tyler Singleton, Mason Zinn and Ben Richards.
“The best fit for Tyler is the middle in front of our goalkeeper,” Portell said. “Mason played last year. We have to keep him healthy. He missed a lot of games with injuries. (Richards) is built like a tank, but he has speed.”
In Portell’s system, the wing backs must be able to sprint 100 yards to the offensive end, and sprint all the way back when the other team has the ball.
“I want my wing backs to push up in the offense and it takes a special player to do that,” Portell said. “We’re looking to see who’s dedicated to do that for the benefit of the team. When you can find them, the offense is fun.”
In the midfield, Colton Baker plays one-two-touch soccer well, but Portell’s not sure where he’ll play there.
William Wilmering is another midfielder.
Eli Brown, Bryton James and Cylis Blood could play forward this season, which begins with the first day of pracrice on Monday, Aug. 10. Portell said the Tigers averaged 20-22 players during summer contact.
Festus competes in the Jefferson County Activities Association, and starting this season, each of the five teams – De Soto, Festus, Hillsboro, Windsor and Perryville – will play each other once at home and once on the road. Perryville has won the JCAA seven years in a row. The Tigers haven’t won a conference game since 2020.
Although Portell said he’s not a fan of doubling the conference schedule, he said it makes sense for boys soccer. “For a team that’s been down awhile, it’s hard to find competitive games,” he said. “We don’t need 8-0 losses right now.”
Portell said the soccer developmental program in Perryville has benefited the public school and private school, St. Vincent, which holds equal sway in girls soccer as the defending conference champion.
“You know you’re going to get a competitive game when you play them. I’d say they (Pirates) are probably picked to win the conference.”
Lancers scored in classroom; coach wants more
As important as a team’s winning percentage is, another number is even more vital for the success and future of its high school student-athletes.
The St. Pius X boys soccer team had a record of 8-13 for a winning percentage of .381 in 2025. Despite the losing record, the Lancers excelled in the classroom with a team gpa of 3.49.
In his third season as the head coach, Paul Kohler has higher expectations for both numbers this fall.
“We will look to raise that (gpa) above 3.5 in 2026-27,” Kohler said. “On the field, our goal is to compete in every game we play, finish the season near or above .500, and play in the district final.”
That’s where the St. Pius season ended last year in a 3-2 defeat to Perryville in the Class 2 District 1 championship. Champions of the Jefferson County Activities Association, the Pirates (16-5) wound up finishing third in the state. Perryville has won the JCAA every year since 2018 and has a 33-game winning streak. It outscored the four teams from the county (De Soto, Festus, Hillsboro, Windsor) 21-0 last year. The Lancers were the last team other than the Pirates to win the conference, but they were kicked out of the JCAA by a decision of county superintendents in 2023. St. Pius competes independently.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association will release class and district assignments Aug. 28.
“We had a great district final last year and our goal is to get right back there,” said Kohler, whose daughter, Lia, was named to the Class 2 all-state first team as a freshman at St. Pius last spring.
St. Pius concluded summer camp last week and begins practicing on Monday, Aug. 10 in preparation for the first game of the season Aug. 28 against Bishop DuBourg in the Cavaliers’ tournament.
“We’re going to be gritty,” Kohler said. “We just got done with our camp, and I told them we’re all starting to get it and gel together. I’m excited about their decision-making. I’m seeing this soccer intelligence and movement patterns.”
Junior Mason McNutt was in goal in the district final and returns for the Lancers as their starting keeper. Sophomore Ben Wacker is his backup.
“We have a great goalie coach,” Kohler said of Matt Hrdlicka. “If you have a kid who’s interested in being a goalie, he’ll make them great. Mason has continued to get better. Ben’s very passionate and the two of them are really pushing each other.”
Senior Kamden Lebon is the returning captain and a three-year starter at center back. Last year, Lebon was all-district, all-region and all-state.
Senior Everett Bosch is a starting center back. Kohler said Bosch is athletic and intelligent and has a great partnership with Lebon that solidifies the middle of the field in the Lancers end.
Senior Cooper Horvath is the team’s utility player, who is solid defensively, brings lots of energy to the wings, and is dangerous in the final third.
Senior Cooper McGrath and juniors Chase Becker and Evan Ream are projected to be in the center midfield. Kohler said all three are intelligent players who find the open man and help create scoring chances.
Seniors Rogan Westerman, Bo Miller and Logan Lewis and junior Drew Ribaudo scored 14 goals between them last year. Juniors Nate Robinson and Will Neselhauf will play forward.
“We will count on them for more of the same this year,” Kohler said. “Last year we had a handful of guys score three or four goals. It’s going to be a big group of guys scoring. We have some younger guys who will get a chance.”
Kohler’s son, Lane, is a senior this year, and led the Lancers with 10 goals last year, but Paul said he opted to play club ball.
Despite the loss of conference opponents, Kohler said he hasn’t had trouble filling the schedule.
“There’s a lot of schools out there looking for soccer games,” he said. “In my opinion 24-25 games is too many. I like to schedule two games a week. You have to have a big bench to play more than that. It’s taxing and there’s injuries. Go with a quality schedule with 17 to 19 games to stretch the days off so that they have recovery time.”