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Eagles prepare for battle minus Shane Cooke
Last year's Liberty boys soccer team was like former U.S. star Claudio Reyna: gifted and consistent but maybe a tad injury prone and unlucky.
This season's Eagles squad looks more akin to current United States soccer stars Jozy Altidore or Maurice Edu: skilled and hungry, but so very inexperienced.
And much like the path of American soccer, it is time for the new guard to take over in Bealeton.
LHS said good-bye to 15 seniors plus forward Shane Cooke following last season's 8-6-3 campaign. They were part of a group that coach Tom Ritchie called “by far, the best team we've had at Liberty.”
This year's group faces the task of filling the gaps, and there are clearly some spots of uncertainty.
“I don't know, I really don't,” Ritchie chuckled last week when asked about his team's outlook. “We've got four returning players, so it's all new, which is good and bad — there's a lot of fresh faces and fresh attitudes.”
The quartet of returning players — Jonathan Morales, Alex Sherman, Blake Weiss and Matt Ifert — all occupy different parts of the field.
“I'm looking for leadership to come out of those four guys,” Ritchie said.
Weiss has perhaps the biggest hole to fill, taking over Andy Smith's spot as starting keeper. Smith had a tremendous senior season thanks, in part, to Weiss helping him from a defense position.
The sophomore Weiss does play keeper for his club team, the Prince William Courage, but this will be his first high school foray into net.
“It's going to be a little rough, but I'll do my best,” Weiss said. “I learned a little bit from Andy, just the way he talked to the defenders and the team.”
Should Weiss falter, freshman Ryan Schmidt waits in the wings.
“I tell them that I don't care what grade you're in — if you can play, you can play,” Ritchie said.
Ifert will anchor the defensive group fronting whoever starts in goal.
Ritchie said he was testing several different formations, but Ifert believes the Eagles will be in a 3-5-2 most of the time. That scheme would have Ifert centering the backline.
Senior Eric Unger will likely see time at Ifert's side, with Damien Dodson, Taylor Petropolis and Willie Propps in the mix, as well.
“I think I've got a lot of responsibility in the back,” Ifert said. “By midseason, we'll be alright, we'll pull together and be good to go.”
Morales is the lone returner to the midfield. The senior could start either on the wing or at defensive mid.
As of last week, Ritchie was still juggling the rest of the midfield rotation. Propps, Luke Hodge, Tyler Rudisill, Jose Carranza and Chris Balladares are the frontrunners for playing time.
Carranza is the only senior among that group.
“It's hard for a lot of kids to come up and step up,” Morales said. “A lot of them look like they can do it, so we should have an OK season, I guess.”
If the defense is slow to come around, Liberty will have to win games by scoring.
Even that could be a challenge. The Eagles must try to replace prolific forward Shane Cooke, who was a member of the U.S. U18 national player pool.
According to Ritchie, Cooke's club team would not allow him to compete at the prep level. He and senior Alex Sherman were expected to provide a potent 1-2 punch up front, so Cooke's loss leaves a void.
Junior Matt Judd will be counted on for offense, with Raymundo Balderas and Miles Rice also counted on to help complement Sherman.
“Shane Cooke's a good player; it's really hard to replace a good player,” Morales said. “But it's a team sport, so there are other guys more than eager to fill that spot.”
All of the Eagles, across the board, are anxious to bounce back from last year's conclusion.
Liberty started the season 8-2-1, but finished 0-4-2. The last insult came in a 2-1, four-overtime district tournament loss to Brentsville.
The Eagles move up to Group AAA and the Cedar Run District this year.
“I think that the level is very similar,” Ritchie said. “I think there are some AA teams that are much better than AAA teams; I don't know that it plays out all that big.”
Ritchie has to hope that is true, because LHS enters this season with more uncertainty than maybe ever before.
Claudio Reyna is, after all, retired. So Liberty has to hope that its youth movement is ready.
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