By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
ATHENS — After coming up just short last year, second-year Athens boys soccer coach Travis Reynard is ready to make another run at a District title as preparation for the 2026 season begins.
"It feels really good to get back on the field," said Reynard. "I am excited for round two.
"Hopefully, we get back and go for a district title," he noted. "After the way it ended last year, it was quite upsetting to us.
"We went on a good run last year, bringing back the NTL," added Reynard. "Now, we're going for even bigger."
Reynard enters his second season up nearly 10 players from last year.
"Our numbers are very high, actually," he said. "We had to think about cuts, but kept everyone on board. We're right around 36 or 37 guys this year.
"It's good for us on the field because we can scrimmage a lot, play a lot, see a lot of people everywhere," noted Reynard.
"I should be able to do the same on JV," he added. "We will have a full JV squad ... we actually have a separate JV schedule working on this year to have them prepared for when they're ready for the varsity level."
Reynard said he feels a lot of the same energy surrounding this year's team.
"We have a lot of returners, which helps a lot," he said. "So one word I already said to describe this team this year is rechargeable.
"Our system isn't broken, but we have to replace the lost power and just find a way to get the system back up and running and even better than before," noted Reynard.
"It doesn't need a whole new engine," added Reynard. "It just needs to fill the missing parts that are missing from our seniors who did leave."
Reynard said the focus of the preseason is the same as last year.
"The big focus has been on quick play and finishing again," he said. "I said it last year, scoring was still our weakness, so we're trying to improve on that.
"Finishing in the final third has been a huge thing because we can't win if we don't score," added Reynard.
Athens will host Montrose in a scrimmage next Saturday.
The Wildcats open the season at home against Wyalusing on Sept. 3.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens coach Travis Reynard. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
