Mt. Pleasant boys soccer returns experienced group to try and build on last season

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, August 27, 2017 | 9:48 PM

Mt. Pleasant's boys soccer team averaged five goals in its nine wins last season.

The Vikings want to see both numbers increase this fall. With eight starters back, players and coaches believe it can be a reality.

“We only graduated three senior starters, so we have a lot coming back,” Vikings coach Floyd Snyder said. “I hope to score a lot of goals and hopefully keep the other teams from scoring a lot. Hopefully, we don't get in a lot of 6-5 games. Those might be fun for the players, but they give the coach gray hairs.”

Juniors Alex Pomarico and Sam Napper are back to lead the offense. Pomerico scored 11 goals last year, and Napper had 10 goals and 11 assists. Juniors Jack Shirley and Brad Tait and sophomore Luke Hauger add to the scoring punch.

“They are very offensive-minded and like to attack,” Snyder said. “They are all excellent players, some of the better ones to come along through Mt. Pleasant. It's tough for teams to just focus on one of them.”

Junior Caleb Pfeifer and sophomore Arthur Bartlow will see time in the midfield with Tait, Hauger and Shirley. Bartlow, a former goalkeeper, is in his second year playing in the field.

“He played goalie most of his life, but he did a lot of good things for us last year,” Snyder said. “I think he could have a good year.”

The squad welcomes back a veteran defense with seniors Ben Bailey, Ben Keyser and Nick Secosky back to lead the way. Junior Doug Swink, Pfeifer or Bartlow could see time on defense as well.

“The seniors are all pretty vocal young men. They know when they should hold the line, retreat and take space away. It's nice to have that experience, for sure,” Snyder said. “Ben Bailey was voted as our captain last year. It's nice to have him back. It was nice to see him organize some practices in the offseason. We always expect our seniors to be leaders on the team. The juniors have been playing varsity the last two years, so we expect them to be leaders. We have a lot of young guys who will play a lot of key minutes for us this year, too.”

Junior Shane Piper is in goal for the Vikings.

“He has that experience in goal,” Snyder said. “He does a great job of shutting down angles. We want him to be more vocal back there and talk more with the defense.”

Mt. Pleasant wants to find a balance with its aggressive offense and veteran defense.

“I think, sometimes, those guys do cheat a little bit (on offense) knowing that we have a strong defense,” Snyder said. “It's definitely something we need to watch out for. We need those (offensive) players helping to support the defense from behind. We should have some fun games this season. I just hope we don't play NBA style up and down the field.”

The Vikings finished 9-8-1 overall last year and 6-6 in Section 2-2A. They lost to Waynesburg Central, 2-0, in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

“We've lost in the first round the last three years,” Snyder said. “It's one of our goals to get out of that first round. We've caught some bad luck and not played very well. Hopefully, I think we'll be a little hungrier this year.

“This is probably one of the deepest groups I have had. This is my ninth year as head coach, and I was an assistant five years before that. We're going to have to close to 28-30 kids on the team, and we haven't had that many in 14 years. We have a large group of freshmen. All 12 or 13 are going to be able to push the upperclassmen in practice and for playing time. That's what you want. The younger guys are hungry, too, and want to get after it as a team.”

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant