While uncertainly often characterizes a transition, M-P soccer coach Geoff Kittle hopes to make his debut go as smoothly as possible.
I hope the guys come together and get comfortable with me soon. The sooner that happens, the easier it will be, said Kittle, who replaced the retired Kyle Suits. Theres a little transition for some of the guys.
Fortunately, Kittle was promoted to head coach from M-Ps junior varsity team, and brings several of those players with him to this years squad to replace the 11 seniors who graduated last season.
M-P hopes to improve on a 9-6-1 season that earned them a district playoff slot last season. In addition to returning varsity players like seniors Brian Nobach, Sayer Torkkola, Ryan Wilson and Peter Clark, this years roster is filled out by newer faces like junior Jeff Jensen, and sophomores Keir Torkkola and John Crenshaw, all of whom played for Kittle last year.
Another player making his varsity debut this season will be goalkeeper Erik Cruz. The senior has big shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of all-conference keeper Kaleb Kuehn, who is a freshman with the team at Seattle Pacific University.
Erik Cruz is a really athletic kid. He can surprise you with some of the saves that he can make, but I think hes going to fill in there nicely, Kittle said of his new goaltenders strengths. I think hes going to do a good job. Hes just really athletic.
One player he hopes will have a breakout season is sophomore Brady Ballew, a midfielder who got the nod to play varsity midway through his freshman season.
Leading this years team is veteran midfielder Nick Burdett, a senior, who has committed to playing for Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. Burdett was one of the Tomahawks leading scorers in 2007, and figures to be a critical part of this seasons equation, particularly with the loss of junior Elwood Sevon to academy soccer, a team that prohibits players from playing prep soccer.
While many of the teams returning starters including Nobach and the elder Torkkola defend the Tomahawk goal, the offensive players skew younger. Kittle said he hopes to see a number of players contribute to the teams offensive well-being.
But while it might take M-P a few games to find their footing, Kittle said he doesnt mind kicking off the season against perennial powerhouse Snohomish, who went 15-1 last season.
I like playing Snohomish first because its a good opportunity. The pressures still really on them to win, so we like going into that game the underdog, with the pressure off, he explained. As for the rest of the season, he added, Im hoping well have some luck, but there could be some growing pains because we are a little bit young. Well see how they respond.