Logan Christopher (24 goals in 2016), Brandon O’Dell (24 in 2017 and 25 in 2019), Joe Noah (35 in 2018 and 21 in 2019) and Hayden Hatley (24 last year) all have struck fear in opposing defenses. The Lions registered 175 goals the past two seasons, going 33-19 and winning a Class 4 District 1 championship in 2019.
But all of those prolific scorers have graduated.
Dave Willis, head coach of both the boys and girls soccer programs at Northwest, begins his 14th campaign with the boys, who are 179-151-3 under him. Willis has coached the girls for five years, posting a record of 67-56-4.
The Lion boys’ 2020 season ended in a 1-0 loss to Jackson in the district final. Incredibly, the Indians won four more games after that, each by one goal, to capture their first state title.
“Losing last year in double overtime in the district final to the eventual state champions let our guys see just how close we are to accomplishing something really special,” Willis said. “Our guys really thought they should have won that game, and then to see what Jackson did the rest of the way got them really hungry. It’s almost like they all threw $100 in a pot and said whoever improves the most this offseason gets the money.
“It has been a real joy to watch the growth over the last nine months. As always our program owes (Northwest) coach Nick Hoth (a strength and conditioning coach and now also returning to the head football coach position) a huge debt of gratitude as he trains many of our guys. The gains they have made in the weight room are going to pay huge dividends.”
Key returners to the Northwest starting lineup this season are junior forwards Tyler Finder and Stephen Pryk and sophomore forward Luke Licare. In the midfield are seniors Trey Eckols and Dylan Mayer and junior Austin Eubanks. The backfield is led by seniors Cooper Dutton, Dominic Pupillo and Phillip Grimes and sophomore Cayden Grither. Returning in goal for the Lions is sophomore Alex Drexler, who logged all but 65 minutes and posted nine solo shutouts last year.
Drexler played varsity soccer, basketball and volleyball as a freshman. Willis said he is an incredible leader for someone his age, in addition to being a 4.0 student and great communicator.
“Total package,” Willis said. “Alex will win us games where we get outplayed. He has really progressed as someone who can start our offense for us. His distribution this offseason has improved so much, you will see us score some goals this year that start with an Alex Drexler punt or throw.
“You don’t have enough space in this article to put in all my thoughts about Alex and the impact he can make on this team, this program and this school.”
Senior Nick “Big Steve” Atchley played those other 65 minutes in goal and returns as Drexler’s backup, although Willis said he’s much more than that.
“We are in such a great place when it comes to goalie because of the depth we have,” Willis said. “Nick has totally transformed himself during his four years. When people say they are going to grind this offseason, they should ask Nick if they are doing right. This guy was always on the field when no one else was, rain, snow, shine – getting himself in game shape. When I say that Alex can win us games, I should have said our goalies can win us games, because we are so confident in ‘Big Steve’ as well.”
Willis said Finder, Pryk and Licare have had strong showings this offseason. All three of them can set up their own shot or create shots for each other. They each could score 15-plus goals and one will likely maintain the team’s streak of having at least one 20-goal scorer.
“They will make us very tough to defend because they play so well together, make very creative runs away from the ball, and all have a finisher’s mentality,” Willis said. “All are very unselfish players.”
Finder is in his third year on the varsity and logged 19 points a year ago on six goals and seven assists despite missing a large chunk of games due to injury. When he was healthy, the Lions were hard to beat.
“He is the playmaker. His top-end speed is impressive,” Willis said. “He has the ball on a string and makes defenders miss.”
Pryk was the program’s most improved player last year, playing holding midfield, but this year he will most likely be a striker.
“He would text me after his (club) games and show me the goals he was scoring,” Willis said. “My jaw dropped on some of them. The improvement in his game in the last two years has been nothing short of amazing.”
Licare is the grinder up top, the first one at practice almost every day. As a freshman he earned a lot of playing time because of his work ethic.
“He really put in the time to increase his size and speed,” Willis said. “He has also developed into a very confident attacker. He is smooth with the ball on his foot and hits lasers.”
Senior Dylan Mayer, a four-year varsity performer, plays attacking midfielder but might not stay there, Willis said. Mayer had a solid season at wingback a year ago, but he has so much offensive ability the Lions need to get him into the attack.
“I feel like we have some defensive depth, so (moving Mayer) could be huge for us,” Willis said. “Dylan is ultra-competitive, very technical on the ball and defends his position well. He has the ability to really drive the offense from this spot. He also played a lot of center back for us this summer and was very good at that.”
Eckols and Eubanks are holding midfielders and complement each other well, with Eckols more suited to the attack and Eubanks stronger on defense.
“Trey can get up in the attack and make plays and will score some goals,” Willis said. “Austin is like a one-man press. Their ability to work off of each other will really go a long way to keeping teams off the board against us.”
Grimes is the Lions’ captain in the backfield from his center position. Willis said he’s a cerebral, vocal player, a great organizer and battle-tested.
“I trust Phillip as much as any player I have had,” Willis said. “He’s truly an elite individual on and off the field. I know I’m going to get his best effort in every practice and every game.”
Pupillo, a four-year varsity starter, has played just about every position but is at wingback this fall.
“He gives us great versatility. Dom is a workhorse, who can lock down the other team’s best player on one end and make an 80-yard sprint to create something in the attack.”
Willis is approaching 200 wins with the boys. A district title might get him the 21 victories he needs for the milestone. He said this year’s starting lineup is as complete as any he can remember.
“The question mark for us is our depth,” he said. “How well our subs can fill in when we get injuries could be the determining factor if this team is just good, or great. We only have one tournament this year, so we would really like to go to Springfield and do well in that tournament and bring home some hardware. (Suburban Conference Red pool and district) champions is not out of the realm of possibility, but ultimately I want us to compete to the best of our ability every night and constantly be improving.”