Glenn Walrond knows the South Puget Sound League North Division is a stacked deck this spring in regards to the boys soccer race.
He also knows he has a handful of the league’s top-tier players whom he can lean on, specifically Scott Geffre, Sam Piehler and Estebon Tobon.
“That’s our Big Three right there,” Walrond said.
It’s that “Big Three” that the Chargers will be counting on this spring in a soccer race that’s expected to go down to the wire. Less than two weeks into league play, only one team (Auburn Riverside) remains unbeaten. And four teams, including Kentridge, already is saddled with at least two losses.
With no clear cut, runaway favorite in the North, where the top four teams advance to the playoffs, the early season is all about jockeying for position, Walrond said.
“Our first goal is to end up in the top four of the league. We’re not going to have any goals of winning the division like last year,” he said. “Can we win the league? Yeah, if we play the right way. Right now, there are too many good teams in this league to set the goal too high.”
Kentridge’s playoff aspirations will have been challenged in the early season with Tobon on the sideline nursing a broke foot suffered during club play. Tobon is expected back by midseason and should give the Chargers a nice push.
Despite playing without Tobon and starting the season 0-2-3, the overall outlook remains relatively bright for the Chargers. Part of that is due to the strong returns of first-team all-leaguer Geffre (forward) and second-teamer Piehler (forward). Geffre led the Chargers last season with seven goals scored while Piehler chipped in five. Though Kentridge graduated 13 players, including seven starters, it still has returned 20 of its league-leading 40 goals from last season, which is considerably more than its SPSL North counterparts.
Adding to the offensive surge is senior midfielder Anthony LeGault, who collected four goals in Kentridge’s first five games.
“He has really stepped up his game,” Walrond conceded.
However, the Chargers still have some big shoes to fill. Among its seven starters who graduated, five earned all-league accolades last spring. While Geffre, Piehler and LeGault have shored up the offense for the Chargers, losing three-year starting goalkeeper Alex Ferguson was a tough blow.
“We lost a lot,” Walrond admitted. “We just have some role players who need to step up.”
Step up and further stack a loaded SPSL North deck.
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