The Lincoln-Way West boys soccer team is facing a difficult challenge if it wants to achieve its lofty goals this season, and it starts by looking in the mirror.
“Our biggest challenge is going to be ourselves,” said Matt Laude, who enters his 26th season in coaching. “We are very passionate about soccer and when passion comes into play and small details don’t go our way, we get passionate about trying to really right the ship. So, I think as long as we keep our minds right and keep our heads in the game nobody can stop us.”
One leader Lincoln-Way West is counting on this season is Reece Eggener, who believes his team can achieve a great deal this season.
“I am most excited about the consistent talent all across the field,” he said. “And the goal is to obviously win State.”
Senior Danny Maeder also returns to the Warriors and will be counted on to provide a spark.
“Our play style changed completely,” Maeder said. “We were a hard-working team and now we are technical people. Now we have a different play style, though.”
Laude pointed out a few more players that will have increased roles this season.
“Adrian Ontiverso is going to have a big role as our center back,” Laude said. “I have significant faith in Patrick Kueber, our goalie who is returning this year. Outside of that there are a lot of new faces this year.”
Continuing to develop Kueber in the net is another focus as the season gets underway.
“Patrick has not played goalie his entire life,” Laude said. “Goalie is a very difficult position to just jump into, right? The fact that he took on this role a couple of years ago, he has made significant bounds. We have the goalies battling against each other, warming each other up. Our assistant coach is working on hands and angles, strong hands, all of that stuff.”
In addition to goalie, the Warriors will need to be solid in the middle of the field.
“With the formation we are running this year it is going to be make or break in the middle of our field,” said Laude, who plans to run a 4-3-3 formation this year. “Our three midfielders are going to work extra time for us to make things work for us. I think we are going to be up to that challenge.”
The decision to run the 4-3-3 is based on the necessity of stopping opposing attacks in their own end.
“It is personnel this year,” said Laude, who is a fan of the English Premier League club Liverpool. “Originally we were thinking about a 3-5-2, but we switched to a 4-3-3 just to be more solidified in the back. As much as I would love to be Liverpool, it was just for personnel this year. It was for the boys and what we had this year.”
