Wiegand returns to coach Deer Lakes boys soccer team

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, August 22, 2017 | 10:36 PM

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With time winding down before the start of preseason soccer camp and still no coach under contract, Deer Lakes reached out to a familiar face to lead the Lancers back to the postseason in Jordan Wiegand.

“I was sort of in between, really didn't have anything whenever (athletic director Chuck Bellisario) called, and he asked if anyone was interested, and I said that I kind of am,” said Wiegand, who coached at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic the past three seasons. “It ended up working out.”

During Wiegand's first stint leading the Deer Lakes boys soccer team, he lead the Lancers to their first postseason appearance in 11 seasons in 2013 before moving on to North Catholic and leaving his assistant, Josh Potter, behind to carry on his mission.

Wiegand's hiring is rich with irony. Not only is he replacing a former assistant who replaced him, but he's also taking over a team that made it to the 2016 WPIAL quarterfinals. Wiegand's final game as Deer Lakes' coach was when the Lancers fell to eventual WPIAL champion West Allegheny in the 2013 quarterfinals.

“I followed them,” Wiegand said. “It's kind of hard not to. They're my old team, and I kind of want to watch them do well. I always watched over to see what they were doing, so I'm well aware of all the situations they had last year and the all the games they played.”

Unlike his first go-round, Wiegand is returning to a program that has kept arcing upward. Deer Lakes (12-5, 8-4) finished third in Section 2-AA behind first-place Freeport and Shady Side Academy to earn the No. 9 seed in the WPIAL postseason bracket.

The irony doesn't just stop there. Wiegand takes over a Lancers squad that lost eight starters from last year's team and once again finds himself in the position of evaluating young talent and putting them in the best position to succeed.

One gets the feeling Wiegand wouldn't have it any other way.

“Where we're starting right now, as far as where we were in (2011), we are way ahead of that,” Wiegand said. “We should be able to compete right away. It was all my freshmen who just graduated this past year. That was kind of my big group that we lost. It's kind of like a brand-new team to me, but I've worked with a lot of the younger ones so there's some familiar faces on the team with me.”

Wiegand again will welcome a large freshman class. Freshmen make up 12 of the Lancers' 25-player roster. It's a situation he's embracing in that the freshman players who came up from the middle school program are much more polished than in years past.

“It's nearly impossible to compare what I had when I first came here to now because those kids developed before my eyes,” Wiegand said. “These kids will too, but I think at an accelerated rate.”

Wiegand has just three starters from last season returning. Junior Jesse Greyshock, who takes over in goal, will be looked on to keep games close while the young Lancers mature in Wiegand's system. Senior Eric Franciscus and junior Nick Caro return on defense. The trio was voted to represent the Lancers as team captains.

“It's refreshing to have some guys coming back who have been involved with all these good teams throughout the years,” Wiegand said. “They see what it takes to win, and under that guidance of these upperclassmen it will really pay dividends for these freshmen moving forward.”

The rest of the eight starting spots are up for grabs. Wiegand said the battle for starting spots could reach all the way into the third week of the regular season before he and his staff find the right combination. Wiegand also said it's going to be competitive to get time on the field this season with all the young talent.

“I don't think that it will be too big of a surprise that we'll be able to compete early and often,” Wiegand said. “We took our lumps in the past, but you can tell that won't be the case with these guys this year.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Deer Lakes