The future is bright for the Kentwood High boys soccer team.
Fifth-year coach Aaron Radford knows that all too well. But Radford also knows that this spring, the Conquerors will have to traverse its share of early season growing pains before fully realizing how good they can be.
Why?
Along with graduating 11 seniors from last year’s program that fell a handful of victories out of the playoffs and finished the season with a 1-0 loss to Kent-Meridian, the Conquerors also will have to overcome some early injuries this spring. First-team all-league midfielder Eli Peterson suffered a knee injury at the end of wrestling season and isn’t expected to be at full strength until late in the season. Meanwhile, promising freshman defender Cody Crook recently came down with a bout of mononucleosis, which further clouds Kentwood’s forecast.
“We’re definitely battling some illness and injuries right now,” Radford noted. “But I have all the confidence that if we can get our team healthy that we can do some things. If we can pull things together and get a decent (first half of the season) then we should have a strong (second half).”
Strong enough to make the playoffs, a place Kentwood has been just once since 2004.
Injuries and illness aside, however, Kentwood has plenty to be excited about this spring. In fact, few teams in the South Puget Sound League North Division return as much top-tier talent. Along with Peterson, the Conquerors also return Rodney Greiling (first-team goalkeeper), Jared Fuller (second-team midfielder) and Philip Urban (honorable mention midfielder) to go along with up-and-coming midfielders Stefan Bangsund and Sergio Mejia.
More importantly, however, is the fact that none of the group are seniors, lending considerable promise to the next two years.
“I’ve got 11 kids right now that I should have for three years in a row,” Radford said. “Anybody would be happy to be in that position. Not to look past our current situation this season because we should definitely be able to do some positive things right now.”
Much of that optimism can be attributed to Greiling, one of the North’s top-returning goalkeepers. A junior, Greiling posted nine shutouts last spring and held opponents to one or fewer goals in 13 of the team’s 16 league contests.
And Greiling is just getting better, too. In early March, Greiling tried out – and made – the Seattle Sounders academy U-18 select team. The two-day tryout held at Qwest Field brought together many of the region’s top players.
“I’m excited about it,” Greiling said. “It’s totally different than the Olympic Development program. With the Sounders, it’s totally free to the players. Anybody who is good can play. It’s just a really cool deal.”
The Conquerors will be leaning on Greiling during the early season while the team is down a handful of players. It’s a task he already has shown he is up for, especially last week when he worked a 2-0 shutout of Kentridge, which is expected to be a playoff contender.
“Always the goal is shutout, shutout, shutout,” Greiling said. “If I don’t get scored on, we’re not going to lose.”
But Greiling isn’t alone among Kentwood’s young and talented returners. Bangsund, a sophomore, made the Sounders U-16 team. Bangsund brings a versatile game to the field as he dished out four assists last year and tallied one goal. Meanwhile, Urban, who found the back of the net three times last spring, also is one of Kentwood’s top-returning goal scorers.
The key for the Conquerors, however, remains finding the back of the net on a consistent basis. Kentwood graduated 11 of its 19 goals from last year’s team, including leading scorer Chad Fuller (4 goals). If they’re going to finish in the top four and advance to the postseason, Radford knows at least two players will have to step up on the offensive end.
“Some of it is looking toward our youth,” Radford said. “It’s time to ask the younger guys to shoulder that responsibility. Look to be thirsty in front of the goal. Sometimes the players are a little bit cautious. I want them to be reckless at times.”
Reckless enough to where that bright future begins now.
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