The veteran Lancer mentor will need to blend strength up top with two senior forwards, a midfielder who was the only Lancer selected to the Missouri High School Soccer Coaches Association all-state team a year ago, and three returning starters who were freshmen in 2020.
St. Pius finished last season 7-12 after losing 3-1 to Whitfield in the Class 1 District 1 championship game. The Warriors, who had beaten St. Pius 9-1 during the regular season, went on to lose to Southern Boone 1-0 in the Class 1 state final. St. Pius finished with a No. 8 ranking in the coaches association final Class 1 power poll last year.
Practice for the new season began on Monday. Portell, who also coaches the St. Pius girls, begins his fourth season at the helm for the boys. He said with seniors Nathan Stoll (seven goals in 2020) and Colin Brown (nine) on the attack, the Lancers should be an exciting team capable of opening up on offense.
“Stoll has got size and strength and quickness,” Portell said. “I like having two physical guys up top who like to score goals. Colin Brown started out in the midfield and we bounced him around. He’s physical up top and doesn’t get pushed off the ball. He played forward half of the season.
“Because of our goal scorers, we’re going to be fun to watch.”
Portell said team captain Kyle Lewis, a senior midfielder/back entering his fourth year on the varsity, is probably the team’s most athletic player.
“He’s relentless with his energy and conditioning,” Portell said. “We lost a goalie and two senior defenders, so he’ll be in the back. In the middle of the (2020) season, we moved him from defender to center mid and he solidified us there.”
Defender Will Wieland, another senior, is a three-year starter and plays left outside back. Wieland had an assist in the district final against Whitfield.
“We push him up into the attack. He never wears down,” Portell said. “During the district championship game, he had an assist by overlapping their midfielder and making a run up the field.”
Logan Hall earned all-state honors as a sophomore midfielder and led the Lancers with eight assists. Portell said Hall plays soccer year-round. Hall and Lewis were the two Lancers named to the all-Jefferson County Activities Association first team last year.
“Sometimes (Hall) distributes the ball too much; he needs to be more aggressive to score,” Portell said. “We’re strong with him and Kyle in the middle.”
Midfielder Adam Foy was one of the Lancers’ starting freshmen last year and Portell said Foy is a stronger athlete now. Patrick Flanagan, who has four sisters who played soccer at St. Pius, and Tanner Koepke were the other two frosh starters last fall.
“They’re very skilled and it’s a good core for that class,” Portell said.
Goalkeeper Keagan Klahs graduated this spring, so the job now belongs to his backup a year ago, sophomore Zander Street, who started for the JV team.
“(Street) has good hands and size,” Portell said. “He plays baseball during the summer. We’re going to try and mold him into a keeper.”
St. Pius (3-2) tied Hillsboro for second place in the JCAA last year. League champion Perryville beat the Lancers by a combined 12-2 in their two matches, one of which was in the Hillsboro Tournament. St. Pius opens play this season in the Bishop DuBourg Tournament.
“After that we do play an extremely tough schedule,” Portell said.
Hawks bank on tight teamwork
Five of the last six games the Hillsboro boys soccer team played in 2020 were decided by one goal.
The Hawks’ two wins in those games came against Jefferson County Activities Association rivals Windsor and Festus. Hillsboro beat the Tigers 1-0 in the Class 3 District 2 semifinals before falling 2-1 to North County in the district championship.
Hillsboro finished 6-14 in Sam Nansel’s first year as head coach, but the Hawks had a winning record (3-2) in the JCAA. Nansel said the key to preparing his players this year is to rely less on skill and ability and more on coming together as a team and respecting each other.
“It’s not going to boil down to our talent. It’s a matter of putting it all together and playing as a team,” said Nansel, a former goalkeeper at Hillsboro.
The Hawks open at home against Northwest on Aug. 31 and then travel to Timberland in Wentzville on Sept. 7. The Lions and Wolves are talented Class 4 teams that won a combined 29 games in 2020. Both beat Hillsboro at the beginning of last year.
“After those losses, as the season went on, we didn’t have a flashy record,” Nansel said. “But the boys played hard and we put it together toward the end and avenged a loss to Festus, and the North County game was tough.”
Hillsboro has featured talented goalkeepers in recent years, including Joe Bogowith, Seth Oshia and most recently A.J. Krasnesky, who graduated this spring. Senior Tate Volmert was Krasnesky’s backup last year and enters fall practice as the No. 1 keeper, but he’ll get a stiff challenge from sophomore Gabe Perry.
“My hope is (Perry will) push Tate to work hard and hold on to that spot,” Nansel said. “Tate didn’t have soccer experience, but when I was the (Hawks) goalkeeper coach, I got him early and molded him into the goalie I want. He’s big and tall and fits the mold for a goalie. Technically, you can tell (Perry’s) trained his entire life.”
Senior Colton Leonard has scored progressively more goals in each of his first three seasons at Hillsboro. A 2020 all-JCAA first-team selection, Leonard tallied a team-high 15 last year. He might move from striker to center attacking midfielder after Nansel evaluates the team at practice starting this week. Nansel said Leonard is capable of keeping his goal-scoring trend going. Sergio Cruz helped Leonard get scoring chances, but Cruz graduated.
“Sergio played behind him and was a good set-up man,” Nansel said. “Colton is good at holding the ball. He’s quick and has a lot of technical ability. With the formations we play, our striker plays high. Colton might be better suited in the middle.”
Junior Elliot Puhse looked good at striker in Hillsboro’s summer competitions and Nansel said he fits the role well. He scored one goal in 2020.
“He’s got a lot to prove,” Nansel said. “He’s at the soccer field every day working on his shot. He’s gotten a lot better.”
While early-season questions are being answered this week on two-thirds of the field, there’s no question the strength of this year’s Hawks squad is in the backfield.
Senior Dylan Mooney will line up at left back in his fourth year on the varsity. Nansel said Mooney has adopted the leadership role.
“The guys trust him and even though he’s at outside back, he holds the back line together,” Nansel said.
Juniors Carson Leonard and Christian Groner and senior Karter Stoutt make up the rest of the Hawk backline.
In the midfield are senior Nick Marchetti and seniors Devin Guenther, Ryker Williams and Patrick Lee. Nansel said Lee emerged as a varsity talent early last year. He competes in the long jump during track and field season in the spring.
“A week after we started practicing (last year), he came to me and told me he should be on the JV,” Nansel said. “I told him if I didn’t think he was capable of being on the varsity, he wouldn’t be on it. His greatest asset is, he’s amazing in the air.
“(Marchetti) has a lot of skill and might move to striker, but can play any attacking role. I had two experienced seniors in those positions last year and this is Devin’s year to get a lot of minutes. In a normal year when I didn’t have two seniors, he would have played more last year. He’s big and is really good at holding the ball, and can make long or short passes and shoot on goal from 20 to 30 yards out.”
Williams started as a junior, suffered a knee injury early on and missed the rest of the season. Nansel said despite those injury troubles, Williams has a lot of speed.
Perryville has won the JCAA the past two seasons, going 10-0 in league play in that time. The Hawks host the Pirates on Sept. 16.
“Perryville’s got a good thing going down there,” Nansel said. “They always have talent and they’re fast and physical up and down the field. Hopefully it’s us to knock them out, but they’re the team to beat.”
Dragons hopeful with new coach, top scorer
It all comes down to numbers.
New De Soto boys soccer head coach Luke Schlichting needs enough players to build the Dragons into contenders. The summer camps he conducted gave him hope that help is on the way.
“I am pretty pleased with where we are numbers-wise and the work ethic of those who came out this summer,” said Schlichting, a 2015 Perryville graduate who was hired to coach the girls in the spring as well. “That’s a great sign going forward, building on what we did this summer.”
De Soto was 5-13 overall and 1-4 in the Jefferson County Activities Association last year. The season ended with a 6-1 loss to eventual champion North County in the Class 3 District 2 tournament.
Senior Chase Reichmuth scored three goals in two games against North County and led the Dragons with 18 last season. He notched five goals in two games against Pacific and represented De Soto on the all-JCAA first team.
“Chase got some recognition at conference, region and state. He’s a talented player,” Schlichting said. “I’m excited to see what he can do this year.”
Cadence Hebert, Jack Hooper, Macklin Blanchard and Isaac Smith join Reichmuth in the De Soto midfield.
Sean McKee, Nate Siebert, Connor Kisner, Liam Modrosic and Ethan Patterson form a solid unit in the backfield.
“Sean’s going to be one of our leaders. He’s going to be a big player for us,” Schlichting said.
“I’m looking forward to see who steps into those roles.”
The top forwards for the Dragons are Blake Christian and Aaron Burgett. Christian had five goals and 15 points a year ago. Burgett can play all over the field.
“(Burgett) can cause havoc for opposing team’s defenders,” Schlichting said. “Blake has been really good for us all summer. He’s one of our bigger kids, so I’m excited to see what he can do in front of the goal.”
In front of De Soto’s net is returning goalkeeper Hunter Guertzgen, who played in every game in 2020, piling up 200 saves. Samuel Lawson will be Guertzgen’s backup.
“He’s one of the hard-working kids we have,” Schlichting said of Guertzgen. “He’s always present in anything we do (and) always willing to help people out. I’m looking forward to seeing him in action.”
The Dragons’ season kicks off Aug. 31 at Brentwood. On Sept. 28, the Dragons host two-time defending JCAA champion Perryville and Schlichting will get a long look, from the other sideline, at the program he won a state title with.
“They have a lot of good athletes. I know all of those boys really well,”
Schlichting said. “They’re big, fast and strong. That makes it hard to deal with them. They have pretty good depth (and) a lot of skilled players. That makes it harder to play against them, especially late in the season when you’re starting to wear down.”