Despite coming off a season in which the Wahlert men’s soccer team finished 5-13, expectations for this year are high.
“This year’s team has a higher level of talent than the past few seasons, and the work ethic has improved a lot,” said Jacob Berning, ‘17.
Past experience is key this season as more than half of last year’s varsity squad is returning. Now, the focus is to continue improving and make it back to the state tournament. The last state championship for the program came in 2010, a year in which the current varsity head coach Sam Koenig was still playing for Wahlert.
Soccer has always been a successful sport throughout the history of Wahlert. Although the past couple of seasons proved to be down years compared to prior success, many factors contributed to that such as injuries.
“Over the past couple of seasons, the team has struggled with injuries,” admitted Berning. “This year we have a healthy team and we are focused on a state championship run.”
Last year’s team graduated 14 seniors, most of whom saw significant playing time. However, the returning players gained valuable experience in the process and will help first year varsity players adapt to the higher level of competition.
“Everyone on the team is stepping up and showing leadership through their hard work and dedication,” said Berning.
An important aspect for the team this season will be to not get ahead of themselves and to just focus on the next game.
“I believe that we are the hardest working team in the conference,” said Berning. “While our goal is to bring another state championship to Wahlert, we need to just work hard and take it one game at a time.”
So as this season begins, the goal is, as always, to make it as far as possible in hopes of another state championship. But, for now, the focus of the team is to get off to a good start and take the season one game at a time.