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Redskins take aim at soccer playoffs
By MIKE TENNEY
With just two returning starters from a soccer team that placed sixth in the district last year, the Lamar boys might seem destined for the second tier of 20-5A again.
But fourth-year head coach Brian Hayman isn’t looking at it that way.
“I think we can be a playoff team,” said Hayman. “Our district is tough. But I still think we can be a playoff team.”
The reason for his optimism is the way his youngsters are working and the play of eight sophomores that he isn’t really ready to publicize yet. He said they’ve pushed the older players to step it up.
“A lot of our sophomores came in last year as freshmen, and they just played,” said Hayman. “No egos. No agendas. Just soccer. And they did a good job. We lost a lot of players from last year’s team, but the guys that are now sophomores, they’ve made the older players realize they had to work or instead of this being the senior’s team, this was going to be the sophomore’s team.”
He thought the team got off to a good start Saturday when the Redskins took part in a quadrangular scrimmage with area-ranked Pearland, Clear Springs and Nimitz. They beat Clear Springs, 1-0, on a Robert Morales goal, tied Pearland, 0-0, and lost to Nimitz, 1-0.
Other than the lack of goals, Hayman liked what he saw, because he was worried about his team’s ability to stop people.
“We were very impressed with our defenders,” he said. “We were playing three pretty good teams, including Pearland which is a top 10 team (in thecity), so we thought it was a good start. We defended really well. That was good to see, because we were concerned that might be a weakness. But they far exceeded our expectations with their play. So I think our defense, based on the first scrimmage, has a chance, if the kids keep working, to be strength for us.”
His two returning starters are defenders with senior Brian Cohen and junior Keefer Card-Loos in the back. Senior Juan Banda is one of three goalkeepers that Hayman said will see a lot of play in January as he tries to determine who his starter between the pipes will be.
He is excited about the midfield area where seniors Morales, Daniel Myerson, Gabino Corona, Darlis Florentin and junior Lucky Mosola roam for the Redskins.
“We do have a lot of experience there,” said Hayman. “Probably more there than any where else on the team. All those guys, except for Lucky, have been in our program since I got here four years ago, so they know what we expect out of them. They just keep everybody else calm out there. They can control things and they just do a good job. I think we’ve got a chance to be strong in the middle this year, and I feel good about that.”
Their offensive go-to guy will be senior forward Charles Lender, who will be a four-year letterman and has played varsity for Hayman since he was a freshman.
“Charles has a few goals this year, but we’re expecting some big things out of him this year,” he said. “I think, right now, we’re looking for that guy that we know we can count on to get us a few shots on goal. That’s one of our shaky points right now, but I think Charles will be that guy. He’s looked very good in practice, and he looked good in the scrimmage even though he didn’t have a goal. I think he’s got to do really well offensively this year.”
Hayman said the moment last year came to an end; he immediately went to work on this season and has high hopes.
“Last year was just a disappointment,” he said. “We had a lot of players back from a team that did very well the year before, but for some reason, it just didn’t click. I’ve thought about it a lot and it just didn’t click. We were ranked (in the city) to start the year, and we just never really got it going. We were very talented as individuals, but we didn’t play as a team. So right now, I’m very excited to see this group working as a team.”
The ’Skins have a final scrimmage Thursday night at St. Pius and open the season at 7 p.m. Friday night at Channelview.
The St. Pius workout will be its third, and Hayman said it will give him an opportunity to look at a lot of players who might not play a lot this season.
But fourth-year head coach Brian Hayman isn’t looking at it that way.
“I think we can be a playoff team,” said Hayman. “Our district is tough. But I still think we can be a playoff team.”
The reason for his optimism is the way his youngsters are working and the play of eight sophomores that he isn’t really ready to publicize yet. He said they’ve pushed the older players to step it up.
“A lot of our sophomores came in last year as freshmen, and they just played,” said Hayman. “No egos. No agendas. Just soccer. And they did a good job. We lost a lot of players from last year’s team, but the guys that are now sophomores, they’ve made the older players realize they had to work or instead of this being the senior’s team, this was going to be the sophomore’s team.”
He thought the team got off to a good start Saturday when the Redskins took part in a quadrangular scrimmage with area-ranked Pearland, Clear Springs and Nimitz. They beat Clear Springs, 1-0, on a Robert Morales goal, tied Pearland, 0-0, and lost to Nimitz, 1-0.
Other than the lack of goals, Hayman liked what he saw, because he was worried about his team’s ability to stop people.
“We were very impressed with our defenders,” he said. “We were playing three pretty good teams, including Pearland which is a top 10 team (in thecity), so we thought it was a good start. We defended really well. That was good to see, because we were concerned that might be a weakness. But they far exceeded our expectations with their play. So I think our defense, based on the first scrimmage, has a chance, if the kids keep working, to be strength for us.”
His two returning starters are defenders with senior Brian Cohen and junior Keefer Card-Loos in the back. Senior Juan Banda is one of three goalkeepers that Hayman said will see a lot of play in January as he tries to determine who his starter between the pipes will be.
He is excited about the midfield area where seniors Morales, Daniel Myerson, Gabino Corona, Darlis Florentin and junior Lucky Mosola roam for the Redskins.
“We do have a lot of experience there,” said Hayman. “Probably more there than any where else on the team. All those guys, except for Lucky, have been in our program since I got here four years ago, so they know what we expect out of them. They just keep everybody else calm out there. They can control things and they just do a good job. I think we’ve got a chance to be strong in the middle this year, and I feel good about that.”
Their offensive go-to guy will be senior forward Charles Lender, who will be a four-year letterman and has played varsity for Hayman since he was a freshman.
“Charles has a few goals this year, but we’re expecting some big things out of him this year,” he said. “I think, right now, we’re looking for that guy that we know we can count on to get us a few shots on goal. That’s one of our shaky points right now, but I think Charles will be that guy. He’s looked very good in practice, and he looked good in the scrimmage even though he didn’t have a goal. I think he’s got to do really well offensively this year.”
Hayman said the moment last year came to an end; he immediately went to work on this season and has high hopes.
“Last year was just a disappointment,” he said. “We had a lot of players back from a team that did very well the year before, but for some reason, it just didn’t click. I’ve thought about it a lot and it just didn’t click. We were ranked (in the city) to start the year, and we just never really got it going. We were very talented as individuals, but we didn’t play as a team. So right now, I’m very excited to see this group working as a team.”
The ’Skins have a final scrimmage Thursday night at St. Pius and open the season at 7 p.m. Friday night at Channelview.
The St. Pius workout will be its third, and Hayman said it will give him an opportunity to look at a lot of players who might not play a lot this season.
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