Prep boys soccer preview: Hermantown is hoping younger players who have tasted playoff success can keep the tradition going. [Duluth News Tribune, Minn.]

Aug. 27--Hermantown boys soccer coach Dave Thompson recalls an assistant telling him last season that he should find a way to play reserve Pauly Petsoulis more often.

Thompson scanned the field at his loaded team and wondered aloud, "Who would I take out?"

That was the situation the Hawks faced in the 2009 season, which ended with a 3-0 loss to Mahtomedi in the Class A high school state tournament championship game at the Metrodome.

With players such as All-Area Player of the Year Willis Kantonen and the region's top scorers in Brandon Crusan (23 goals) and Charlie Comnick (21 goals), the Hawks didn't have a weak point. After graduating nine seniors, new starters, such as Petsoulis, must come through for Hermantown to repeat as Section 7A champions.

"Just being a part of that season and the great success we had was pretty amazing," said Petsoulis, a senior midfielder, who started only one game last year but is captain this time. "I got a taste of it last year and I want to come back and help the team to another great season."

Senior defenders Pat Sirois and Cory Kucza, senior midfielder Trevor Rodd, junior midfielder Isak Abukhodair and junior defender Nick Early all saw playing time during a 22-2 season. Winning a pair of state-tournament games helped the younger players develop confidence.

"It breaks down a lot of mental barriers," Thompson said. "When you advance that far and realize you can compete against teams that get recognized all the time, it does give you some confidence.

"That said, this is a much different team than last year and they will have to find their own identity. That's going to be a process."

Duluth Marshall moved star forward John Fox (16 goals) back to defense before the section playoffs a year ago in order to fill a void in the backline. This year, however, Fox is back in an attacking position and should give opponents fits.

"He's going to stay up top all year since we have a solid defense and a good supporting cast," coach Mike Sengbush said.

Other returnees include four-year starter Patrick Sheedy and fellow senior midfielder Lezsak Czernia, senior defender Aaron Dunphy, junior defender Jake Bushey, sophomore forward Joe Fairbanks and goalies Tyler Olson and Doug Lewis, who split time last season.

"This is one of the more balanced teams we've had," Sengbush said. "We have a full roster of 22, and our 20th field player is still a pretty solid player. We're happy with the caliber of players we have from top to bottom."

Cloquet's youthful squad of two returning seniors became even younger when forward Jake Stainbrook found out he would miss the season due to injury. Defender Matt Kayser is the lone remaining senior starter from 2009, when the Lumberjacks finished 9-9-1.

Other returnees are junior defender Hunter Leon, junior forward Landen Straub, junior midfielder John Scheuer, junior goalie Jared Weeks and sophomore midfielder Jim Peterson.

"We don't have a very big, physical team," coach Archie Clark said. "We have to use our foot skills and speed to make some things happen."

Eight Proctor players were members of the C2 state tournament runner-up squad during the summer, so the Rails hope to vastly improve on a .500 record in 2009.

Goalie Iziah Schramm, forwards Chris Carlson and Donovan DeBartolo (12 goals in 2009), midfielder Nate Wells and defenders Brody Morin and Nate Jenkins return as part of a 13-senior squad, while junior midfielder Romeo Benish is the creative playmaker.

"They have pretty high goals," first-year coach Jesse Smith said. "They really want to go to state."

Six seniors dot the lineup for first-year Two Harbors coach David Lukkonen. Caleb Hamp-Sill, Alex Horoshak, Paul Sonday, Aaron Holbeck and Josh Deming return for a team that struggled to a 5-11 record.

Superior is counting on seniors Ethan Walpole, Jake Swanson and Ethan Anderson at midfield, Dave Dalbec and Brian Schmitt at forward and Cory Hesselgrave on defense. Walpole scored six goals in the first four games -- all losses -- as the Spartans' conference losing streak reached 22 games with a loss to Ashland on Thursday.

Ashland has started 4-0, led by senior forward Luke Johnson, a four-year starter and senior defender Zach Fischer and junior midfielder-forward Brett Hulmer, both three-year starters. Junior forward Nick Lesneski and sophomore Jordan Vittone lend scoring talent.

Section 7AA

Central, Denfeld players working together

Duluth Central players went through last season thinking it was the final one in school history. But with Denfeld closed for renovation, the Trojans received a one-year reprieve.

Thirteen seniors, including three returning Denfeld starters (midfielder Cody Husemoller, defender Mat Pikul and goalie Jared Overby) and Central's midfielder Kai Sandal, battled for starting berths during practice.

Coach Scott Anderson, who was at Denfeld during a 4-15 season in 2009, said several of the players were on the same summer-league team, making for a smoother transition.

"They knew each other coming into the season and that made it a lot easier," he said. "It wasn't an us-versus-them kind of thing; it was everybody working together."

Despite opening with seven consecutive home games at Public Schools Stadium, the Trojans have a tough early schedule against the likes of Holy Angels Academy, Marshall and East.

Duluth East lost several talented players from a team that went 13-5-2 and reached the section finals, but replace them with 12 seniors and five juniors. Senior midfielders Grant Bachhuber and Trevor Clark and senior forward Michael Sorensen are captains, while junior midfielder Connor Danielson started as a sophomore.

The biggest change, however, comes behind the bench where former Central coach Nic Bacigalupo takes over.

"I hated to leave Central because I had positive experiences there," Bacigalupo said, "but you'd get three, four, five good players per class at Central and now you're going to get 10, 11, 12 good players here. It's a good problem to have."

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