By Rob Patrick
The 2010 season was a landmark for the Bryant Hornets soccer team as they set a new[more] program standard for victories in the season, reached the Class 7A State Tournament and allowed just 17 goals in 23 matches including 13 shutouts.
And, though the team suffered some key losses to graduation, there remains a core group to lead the way in 2011 that head coach Jason Hay wants to see build on last year’s success.
“You don’t want to be the flash in the pan,” Hay stated. “We want to build some tradition now. We want everybody to know that it’s not a fluke and we are for real. We want to compete at a high level just like baseball, softball and track and everybody else in the spring.
“So, I think, more than anything it’s more important for us to win this year than it was last year,” he continued. “While it wasn’t easy last year, certainly doing it one year is a lot easier than doing it two in a row. We’re not going to sneak up on anybody. We’re going to get everybody’s best shot. We might’ve gained a little respect but still, in most people’s minds, we’re lowly Bryant. And that’s fine. That’s good with me.”
The team includes seniors Holden Chavis, Reed Evans, Caleb Garrett, Michael Ma, and Kyle Nossaman. (Nossaman will join the team after basketball season.) The juniors are Peter Alverio, Jace Denker, Forrest Fowler Caleb Lambert, Victor Rodarte, Alex Rowlan, Alec Salminen, Ben Stukenborg, Ryan Watson and Jesse Wolf. Sophomores include Jeremy Anderson, Kevin Barrientos, Cameron Furton, Josh Lowery, Chase Stuart, Justin Travis, Jose Vazquez and Francisco Zamora. The team’s freshmen are Evan Caddy, Bryce Denker, Chance Levinson, Slade Lewis, Davis Nossaman, Bryan Oldham and Blake Reed.
“Some of these guys have been playing since they were ninth graders that are juniors now,” Hay mentioned. “It’s a good core coming back. We’ve got some big shoes to fill but we’ve also got a couple of new faces, some freshmen that are going to help us out. We also picked up a couple of seniors that came in from football that are going to help us out. Hopefully, we can fill the roles that those (graduated) guys played.
“We’ve been depending on playing a lot of ninth and 10th graders,” he noted. “It’s getting better every year. You shouldn’t have to play a ninth grade boy against an 18-year-old senior/man. The more kids we get, the better the program gets — there’s some teams that won’t play anybody unless they’re 11th or 12th graders on their varsity. We haven’t been able to do that. It’s helped us, the young guys playing early. We took our licks and hopefully we’ll see some reward come out from that this year.”
Jace Denker returns in goal with Rodarte as a back-up.
“(Jace) took over about mid-season last year, during the middle of a game,” Hay noted. “Rodarte is a very capable keeper.”
Evans, an all-State selection as a junior, and Forrest Fowler return to man the back four. Rowlan, Hay noted, has started every game in the midfield since he was a ninth grader.
“We’re looking for something big from him this year,” said the coach. “We need him to step up. He’s been kind of mentored by Jonathan Lowery for two years and, with Lowery gone now, it’s his time to come into his own.
“Stukenborg’s been injured but hopefully he’ll be ready after the first couple of weeks. Jesse Wolf played most of last season at the wing. (Kyle) Nossaman, when he gets through with basketball, he’ll be back as a starter,” Hay continued. “Vazquez played some. Chavis, who came back from football after a knee injury, didn’t play after the first few games last year. He’ll be one of the guys we’re counting on along the back line.“We’re looking for some time from two new guys up top, Bryce Denker, a freshman, and Caleb Garrett, a senior, coming out of football,” he added.
“We’re looking for those guys to contribute right away. “Ryan Watson will be getting some playing time. He saw some varsity time last year.We’re looking at Justin Travis and possibly Cameron Furton getting some varsity playing time.”
Hay asserted that he believes his team can duplicate and improve on last season’s success.
“They’ve committed a lot of time to playing summer and fall soccer,” he explained. “I think they want to win. They’ve always had success in club soccer, they had some success last year and, basically, with the exception of three or four guys we’re going to have the same team for the next two years. If you can win when they’re younger, you would think, as they get older we should be able to get better.
“I really just think that they’re confident now,” Hay emphasized. “They know they can do it now. The hard part is just being consistent and not getting complacent, which is a big concern. You don’t want them to think that it’s easy. We’re not just going to walk out there and win 15 games in a season without working. Fifteen games is a great year but teams like Catholic and Conway and some of the other teams we play, if they lose two games a year, they’ve lost two too many.
“I don’t want our guys to think that, well, winning 15 games and getting beat in the first round of the playoffs is what we’re looking for,” the coach concluded. “We want to be able to win multiple games in the playoffs. Taking that next step is what we need to try to do this year.”
The Hornets are set to open the 2011 season with a benefit game on Thursday, Feb. 24, against Little Rock Christian. They officially open the campaign on Thursday, March 3, against the rival Benton Panthers.
