Benny Westcott
The Sweet Home boys soccer team will field a young squad this season as they try to compete in the Oregon West Conference, one of the toughest leagues in the state.
Last year the Huskies finished with a 3-11 record, going 0-10 in league play.
“This is definitely going to be a building year,” said Head Coach Eric Stutzer. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores and very little experience. We’re only going to field two seniors this year. That bodes really well for the future of the program, but it is definitely going to be a challenge moving forward in this particular season, just because of the teams that we play.”
He noted that “Having a varsity team with only two seniors and matching up against a varsity team with likely six to ten seniors is just a big physical mismatch in some ways.”
But Stutzer did say the Huskies have a lot of numbers this year.
“This is the first year we’re probably going to be able to field a full varsity and JV team, which is super awesome,” he said. “And again that bodes very well for the program. But we’ll be building toward that. When this group gets to be juniors and seniors, we’ll definitely be able to be a little bit more competitive. So we’re very excited about that.”
Stutzer spoke of his goals for the season.
“I really would like to develop cohesion and some team unity,” he said. “The other thing is just learning how to play into space a little bit more. We’re really struggling with being a very linear team. Some of that comes from the lack of experience. We’ve got to learn how to utilize the whole field, pass, move the ball around a little bit more, and look for our opportunities rather than trying to force opportunities.”
He said that “Unity I think is the big thing. Just making sure we come together as a team, taking these larger numbers that we have and putting it into motion where we can have some strength in the years moving forward.”
Returning senior Ben Tolman scored six goals last season. “He’s probably going to be moving into that forward/midfield position this year,” Stutzer said.
The coach noted that “I think we are stronger in offense than we are defense. Most of what we graduated were all defensive players, so we’re really going to have to work on the defensive end of the ball, creating experience and creating some cohesion. Offensively, I think that we have potential, but it’s going to be really contingent on our midfield play.”
He said the team has a lot of inexperience in the midfield, but he thinks that sophomore Landon Savri will be a great midfield asset. “He’s only a sophomore this year, so size and physicality is definitely going to be an issue, but his talent level is high,” he said.
Stutzer said that he will probably move senior Max Klumph to the back line after he played in the hybrid mid position the last two years. His younger brother Cannon Klumph, a sophomore, will probably end up on the back line as well.
“He’s a very physical, aggressive player and carries the ball well, but he’s got some inexperience,” the coach said of Cannon.
Stutzer said the goalie position is the team’s biggest question mark. “We had a four year senior [Evan Towry] that graduated last year,” he said. “We have not been able to field a consistent JV team, so we haven’t really been able to get a lot of experience at the keeper position. For the most part, we are very, very raw in that position.”
The varsity team also includes juniors Eli Vincent, Jack Simmons, Gavin Gardner, Tison Monahan, Conner Stevens and Ivan Ogden, sophomores Elisha Scofield, Keeghan Gittins and Brian Hiner, and freshmen Mitchell Stratman, Hayden Smith and Memphis Gay.
Joey Hiemenz, a former SHHS player under Stutzer, will be an assistant coach this year, after former assistant Ray Towry moved out of town for a job.
“We’re pretty excited about having him on the staff,” Stutzer said of Hiemenz. “He brings a lot of energy, and he’s just very caring and kind and will be a really awesome connecting point with the kids.”