There’s little debate, last season was a huge success for the Skyline boys soccer team.
But it also left the Spartans hungry more.
“After a loss in the state quarterfinals, the season felt incomplete, despite exceeding goals,” head coach Don Braman said.
Fortunately for Skyline, it returns 13 players from last season’s 12-6-2 squad — a group that finished a goal shy of advancing to the state championships in Lakewood.
“It’s nice to have a team with so much experience,” Braman said.
The core of the Spartans’ experience lies in the midfield and is led by senior Travis Strawn. Senior Jake Bechtel and juniors Pedro Miola and Cole Calaboro will also control the center of the field.
“In terms of the way they can possess the ball, they make other teams work hard defensively to keep up with them,” said Braman, of his midfield.
Skyline is also strong up front with a mix of veteran leadership and talented underclassmen. Seniors Braxton Griffin and Kyle Olmstead along with sophomore James Molyneux-Elliot and freshman Jason Twaddle have combined for eight goals in four games.
The Spartans’ defense brings back two starters from last season in seniors Evan Kamber and Michael Stoddard, and adds two experienced players in seniors Travis Burns and Geoffrey Enos.
Senior goalkeeper Steven Pankiewicz rounds out the veteran lineup. He started in the net all last season.
Braman knows if his team wants to return to where it was last season, success will have to start in the KingCo 4A.
“Right now we’re just focusing on league play,” he said. “The key is that you can’t do anything about the state tournament until you get through league play.”
Reaching the top of the league certainly won’t be an easy task, but Braman likes his chances with this year’s group of players.
“What I think is really tough is being competitive and being supportive,” he said. “It’s a difficult thing to pull off, but these goofballs are pretty good at it.”
Skyline is 3-0-1 in non-league play to start the season. They began league play Thursday at Newport.
