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NTL BOYS SOCCER: ATHENS' LEZAK BELIEVES DEPTH, TEAM PLAY WILL BE KEYS TO IMPROVEMENT IN 2022 (2022-08-31)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
ATHENS — Longtime Athens boys soccer coach Jake Lezak has a young roster, but he believes depth and team chemistry could be the keys to a successful 2022 season.

“One of the best things I saw in our scrimmage and our off-season play was the way these guys played together,” said Lezak. “They understand they’re out there together — they don’t lay blame or point fingers. They play as a team.

“No matter who we’ve played, rather than be intimidated about who we were against, they just worked real hard, and let us coach them,” noted Lezak. “If a team is going to beat us, they’re going to have to outwork us.

“They’ve bought in to our philosophy. I’m really excited about that.

“I’m also very excited to have the depth we have this year,” he said. “I won’t hesitate to use a lot of players.

“I think last year’s schedule helped our depth,” added Lezak. “We used a lot of guys in our scrimmage, and we plan on doing that the rest of the season.”

Lezak is looking to improve on last year’s 12-7 season, which included a 9-1 mark in the NTL.

“I feel good about this team,” he said. “We’ve had a good preseason, but there’s still a lot of questions we have to answer.

“I think the guys have the right attitude. They are a good group of boys to coach,” Lezak noted. “They’ve taken everything I’ve thrown at them so far.

“I think we can improve upon last year, and I think we’ll be competitive in the end,” he added.

Senior Grady Liechty will start at keeper for the Wildcats.

“He’s battled some injuries the last couple years, but we’re pleased with what we’ve seen from him,” said Lezak.

Junior Alex Campbell and senior Caleb Hunsinger will start at center-backs.

“Alex (Campbell) has a high soccer IQ and is a strong, versatile player,” said Lezak. “We slid Caleb (Hunsinger) from the wing into the center, and he’s shown us that senior leadership in the center of the field and really settled in.

“I think those two are going to be tough to beat up the middle for us,” he added.

Junior Dash Bishop will start at one wing back, with junior Jack Ryan the lead candidate at the other wing-back spot, although he could see time at out-side mid.

Junior Mitch Hamilton will start at defending center-mid.

“Mitch (Hamilton) has a lot of experience, and he’s a very versatile player,” said Lezak.

Senior Brayden Post gets the starting nod at center-mid.

“(Brayden Post) is a really exciting player,” said Lezak. “He’s quick, tight on the ball, and is very dangerous going forward.

“He also defends very well,” noted Lezak. “I almost put him at defending center-mid, but I couldn’t leave this weapon in the back. We have to score more goals than we did last year, we have to be more dangerous moving forward, and (Alex) is definitely a key component in that.

Senior Levent VanHelden, who has played striker, will start at one wing-mid spot.

“(Levent) is a very talented player, and is extremely versatile,” said Lezak. “Moving him to the wing is going to add another dimension to what we can do moving forward.”

The other wing-mid spot, much like the wing-back spot could see a multitude of players in action, including Ryan, and  sophomores Eli Benninger-Jones, Braden Quinn, Troy Rosenbloom, Braeden Onofre and Isaac Wilcox.

“We have a lot of candidates for that spot,” said Lezak. “All of them bring something a little different, and all of them are going to play.

“It’s an exciting problem to have,” he added.

Freshman Marco Quiros, a transfer into Sayre from York, Pa., and junior Korey Miller will start at the striker positions.

“(Marco Quiros) is a great player,” said Lezak. “We don’t know much about him, other than he’s talented. He’s excited to be here, and he’s fit in very well and is absorbing our system. He’s a bit of a dark horse for us, and is definitely a player to keep an eye on.

“I think a year of development in terms of strength and speed, and his years of experience is going to make Korey dangerous,” noted Lezak. “He’s easy to coach, and understand his strengths and weaknesses … and he loves to score, and more importantly he wants to help us win.

“I think Korey and Marco are going to work well together,” he noted. “They are both unselfish, and want to see the ball in the back of the net.”

Seniors Keagan Williams and Derek Young will see time on the wing and at striker, while sophomore Peter Jones will get time up top, and sophomore Matt Driesbaugh and junior Jake Eyer will likely see time on defense.

Last year, the Wildcats gave up an uncharacteristically high number of goals, albeit partly due to a rugged non-league schedule.

“We gave up a lot of goals last year as a group, and I don’t think we should have,” said Lezak. “We gave up 21 goals in three games last year, and that’s not OK.”

“I do worry that when we play the tougher opponents, if we don’t come out and start the game fast, and put the other team under pressure … and mentally realize that we do match up, and we can play with them that we could have some of the same struggles.

“At the same time, we didn’t score,” noted Lezak. “We have to focus on putting the ball in the back of the net.

“If we can become better offensively, and keep the other team under pressure, we don’t have to worry about giving up as many goals,” added Lezak. “We’ve made our focus putting the ball into the back of the net. The big thing is being able to do it against better opponents — we didn’t score goals in those games last year.”

NON-LEAGUE SCHEDULE

The Wildcats played their toughest non-league schedule ever in 2021, and its 2022 counterpart is equally imposing with Montoursville, Midd-West, Horseheads, Corning, and Williamsport.

“Our non-league schedule is full, and it’s full of Section (IV) and District (4) champs and playoff teams,“ said Lezak.

“It’s tough, just like last year, but these guys played that competition last year, where last year they hadn’t payed that competition,” he noted. “I think the brutal-ness of competition … you take your lumps early on, but you keep playing that level of competition, and it brings our level up to where it needs to be.

“Nothing on our schedule is going to be easy, and that’s great,” Lezak added.

Lezak also notes the JV team has a full slate of games.

“The JV players are going to see a lot of game time, and they really need that to develop,” he said. “For the first time in I don’t know how many years, we’ve filled the JV schedule.”

AROUND THE NTL

“I really think the NTL is going to be very competitive, better than it’s been years,” said Lezak.

“You can’t count Wellsboro out, and Williamson brings back a ton of talent,” he noted. “If I had to pick a top two, along with us, it would be Wellsboro and Williamson.

“Northeast (Bradford) didn’t lose many players, and they were tough last year,” continued Lezak. “They’ll be tough, especially on their field.

“I don’t know what to expect from Troy,” he said. “They graduated (Wyatt) Hodlofski, their keeper, and a few others, so I don’t know.

“And, North Penn-Liberty scored eight goals on Towanda, so they’re already shown the ability to put the ball in the net,” added Lezak.

Athens opens the 2022 campaign Wednesday at home against Troy. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

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IN PHOTO: Athens’ Brayden Post.


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