JOHN MARSHALL
Head coach:Tony Birch. Assistant coaches:Brian Dahl (JV), Bunly Suy (C squad), Guy Gallaugher (volunteer, goalies).
Last year:JM was 6-2-1 in the Big Nine, 11-5-1 overall. The Rocketslost 4-1 to Farmington in the first round of Section 1AA playoffs.
Outlook:The Rockets had a breakthrough season a year ago after going 5-11 in 2012. That breakthrough is likely to continue this season, as a large chunk of the 2013 players were underclassmen. "We've gotten a little bit older after being a young team for a number of years," JM coach Tony Birch said.
JM has a number of standouts, led by all-conference players Ayo Adebayo (senior, midfield) and Ashton Naumann (senior, midfield). Naumann is in his fourth varsity season. Adebayo scored 18 goals and had nine assists last season and was also named honorable-mention all-state. Also back are honorable-mention all-conference players Ben Kellner (senior, goalie) and Bilal Abdelqader (senior, midfield). JM's record may not be as good this season as last, with a difficult non-conference schedule ahead. Included are back-to-back opening games against top-15 state teams East Ridge and Lakeville North. But Birch likes what he's seen so far from his guys, with their discipline and hard work. He also knows the talent level is up considerably from what it was a few seasons ago.
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Coach says:"We still need to get better. But this is a great group. They go into each practice looking to get better. We've got decent skills and a lot of experience. We hope to do better in the playoffs this year." — Tony Birch
ROSTER
Returning lettermen
Seniors: Bilal Abdelqader, Dillon Parrott, Cole Alward, Armin Heldovac, Ashton Naumann, Sami Shanaa, Benjamin Jensen, Ayo Adebayo, Ben Kellner. Junior:Tanner Vandemmeltraadt. Sophomore:Chris Ruvalcaba.
Other varsity candidates
Seniors: Sharmarke Shoble, Peter Ombui. Juniors:Nikhil Khurana, Sybastyen Hildman. Sophomores:Anukone Jordan Somphanith, Troy Finnegan, Mason Tynsky, Jack Gallaugher.
SCHEDULE
JOHN MARSHALL
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(all games at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
Aug. 22 — East Ridge
Aug. 23 —at Lakeville South, 11 a.m.
Aug. 26 —at Farmington
Aug. 28 —at Faribault
Sept. 2 —at Century
Sept. 4 —at Mankato East, 5 p.m.
Sept. 9 —Albert Lea
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Sept. 11 —at Owatonna
Sept. 13 —at Lourdes, 1 p.m.
Sept. 18 —Winona
Sept. 23 —Mayo, 5 p.m.
Sept. 25 —at Northfield
Sept. 30 —at Mankato West, 5 p.m.
Oct. 2 —Red Wing
Oct. 7 —at section tournament, TBD
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Oct. 9 —at section tournament, TBD
Oct. 14 —at section tournament, TBD
LOURDES
Head coach: Tom Kane. Assistants:Sean Kane (JV, varsity assistant), Tim Jennings (C squad).
Last year:Lourdes was 6-0-2 in the HVL, 13-6-2 overall. It beat Byron 2-1 in a shootout in the Section 1A finals. The Eagles then lost 1-0 in the first round of the state tournament to Sartell. It was Lourdes' fourth straight trip to state and 12th in 17 years.
Outlook:Lourdes is seeking its fifth straight trip to the state tournament, and has a great chance of achieving that. A large crop of seniors who are entering their third varsity seasons will lead the way.
The Eagles have two strong, athletic players up front in forwards Hadi Berbari (senior forward) and Dany Berbari (sophomore forward). The brothers have a lot of goals to make up for from last season, as leading scorer Johnny Lawson graduated. Lawson finished with 27 goals and six assists to lead his team by a wide margin. Lourdes' next highest goal scorer had six. But it is the Eagles' overall experience that has coach Tom Kane most optimistic. Lourdes has 11 seniors on its roster, with most of them having seen lots of varsity action. Among them is Jordan Victoria, who Kane has moved from defense to center-midfielder. Kane believes Victoria can be a dominant player. He was all-conference last season. Lourdes' top returning scorer is senior Carter Jones. He had four goals and three assists last season. Nicolas Villarraga and Daniel Schembri-Wismayer are both vying for the starting goalie spot. . .Lourdes begins the season ranked seventh in state Class A.
Coach says:"We're going to be good. All of our seniors have state experience, and most of them have been on the varsity since they were sophomores. They are very experienced, which is a big factor." — Tom Kane
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ROSTER
Returning lettermen
Seniors: Conlan Creedon, Stefan Farrugia, Nicolas Villarraga, Hadi Berbari, Jordan Victoria, Justin Kertis, Colin Sloan, Carter Jones, Daniel Schembri-Wismayer, Colin Ryan, Braden Delaney. Juniors:Charlie Rolfs, Esteban Bedoya, Joe Novak. Sophomores:Dany Berbari, Matt Hebl, Tiernan Talbot.
Other varsity candidates
Seniors:Ben Utz, Thomas Erickson, Sam Hyberger. Junior:Isaac Plager. Sophomores:Peter Erickson, Connor Betzing, Noah Morris, Will Tauferner. Eighth-grader:Colton Praska.
SCHEDULE
Aug. 22 — at Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, 2 p.m.
Aug. 23 —at Duluth Marshall, 1 p.m.
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Aug. 26 —Pine Island/Z-M, 5 p.m.
Aug. 28 —at Mankato East, 5 p.m.
Sept. 2 —at Stewartville, 5 p.m.
Sept. 4 —at Benilde-St. Margaret's, 5 p.m.
Sept. 6 —Breck, 2 p.m.
Sept. 9 —Byron
Sept. 13 —John Marshall, 1 p.m.
Sept. 16 —at Cannon Falls, 6 p.m.
Sept. 18 —Plainview-Elgin-Millville
Sept. 20 —Austin, TBD
Sept. 25 —at La Crescent
Sept. 30 —Kasson-Mantorville
Oct. 2 —at Lake City
Oct. 4 —at Washburn
Oct. 7 —at section tournament, TBD
Oct. 9 —at section tournament, TBD
Oct. 14 —at section tournament, TBD, at Rochester Regional Sports Stadium, 7:30
MAYO
Head coach: Charles Abboud. Assistants:Faiz Abdirahman, J.D. Bartleson, Michael Ishitani.
Last year:Mayo was 5-1-3 in the Big Nine and 7-4-5 overall. Mayo fell 3-2 to Northfield in the first round of the Section 1AA playoffs.
Outlook:Mayo was on of the top teams in the Big Nine last year, and figures to be all over again. The Spartans have a balanced roster, with a mix of star power.
Mayo coach Charles Abboud particularly likes his team's strength in midfield. Jonnie Loera, Alex See, Trystan Wentworth and Zach Reeves give the Spartans a dominating group there. Loera is considering one of the top players in the conference and the junior is in his third year on the varsity. The Spartans are going with a youngster in goal, freshman Liam Claton. Claton played on an Olympic Development team over the summer. Senior Alex Sedarski has moved from goalie, and gives Mayo another player with excellent ball skills. Mayo's defense is paced by Cole Wagar, Lukas Kaminski, Coleton Askildson and Evan Wright. One of the most encouraging things for Mayo coach Charles Abboud is his team's depth. He's says they have lots of it this season.
Coach says:"Some of our players need time to gel. But I think our starters are good at this stage." — Charles Abboud
ROSTER
Returning lettermen
Seniors: Alex Sedarski, Blake Hess, Cole Wagar. Juniors:Trystan Wentworth, Jonnie Loera, Zach Reeves, Alex See.
Other varsity candidates
Seniors: Lukas Kaminski, Giovanni Sallese, Peter Rodeheffer, Gavin Sparks, Ryan Beery, Kevin Rustad. Juniors:Coleton Askildson, Evan Wright, Austin King, A.J. Basnyat, Ed Lowe. Sophomores:Christian Velez. Freshman:Liam Claton.
SCHEDULE
(all games at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
Aug. 21 — Lakeville North
Aug. 22 —Rosemount
Aug. 26 —Lakeville South
Aug. 28 —Northfield, 8 p.m.
Sept. 2 —at Albert Lea
Sept. 4 —Owatonna
Sept. 9 —at Austin
Sept. 11 —Winona
Sept. 13 —Farmington, 1 p.m.
Sept. 16 —at Mankato East, 5 p.m.
Sept. 18 —Mankato West
Sept. 23 —at John Marshall, 5 p.m.
Sept. 25 —Red Wing
Sept. 27 —at Henry Sibley, 3 p.m.
Sept. 30 —at Faribault
Oct. 2 —Century, 5 p.m.
Oct. 7 —at section tournament, TBD
Oct. 9 —at section tournament, TBD
Oct. 14 —at section tournament, TBD
CENTURY
Head coach: Hal Houghton. Assistant coaches:Drew Lueders (JV), Chris Graham, Chris Sedarski (freshman).
Last year:Century was 2-3-4 in the Big Nine, 4-7-5 overall. It lost 2-0 in the first round of the Section 1AA playoffs to Owatonna.
Outlook:Century is looking better than it has in a few years. A senior-laden lineup is the best explanation for that.
The Panthers have nine seniors returning as lettermen. "The expectation when you have a lot of seniors is that you should be doing better," Century coach Hal Houghton said. Scoring goals has been the biggest issue in recent years for Century, which lost or had games tied multiple times last season in the final minutes. Century is looking for good things from seniors Grant Leet-Otley, as well as his brother Keller, forward Hussein Alrubayee, and goalie Nick Pearson. Alrubayee is the team's leading returning scorer. Sam Eggebrecht is another player back who showed an ability to score last year. . .Century had five ties last season. Four of those saw the opposition come up with a goal in the final five minutes to tie or win those games.
Coach says:"Having these seniors is what you build for. My expectations are pretty high." — Hal Houghton
ROSTER
Returning lettermen
Seniors: Noah Boecker, Sam Eggebrecht, Keller Leet-Otley, Grant Leet-Otley, Nick Pearson, Javier Sagastume, Marc Tost, Ben Wood, Hussein Alrubayee. Juniors:Billy Smith, Revan Botros. Sophomores:Marcus Romenesko.
Other varsity candidates
Seniors: Marc Trost, Ben Wood. Juniors:Bill Ndumbe, Brandon Rucker. Sophomores:Tristan Trejo. Freshmen:Connor Watson, Nathan Marks.
CENTURY
(all games at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
Aug. 23 — East Ridge, 11 a.m.
Aug. 26 —at Lakeville North
Aug. 28 —Owatonna
Sept. 2 —John Marshall
Sept. 4 —Red Wing
Sept. 6 —Lakeville South, 1 p.m.
Sept. 9 —at Faribault
Sept. 11 —at Mankato West, 5 p.m.
Sept. 13 —Rosemount, 3 p.m.
Sept. 16 —Northfield
Sept. 18 —at Albert Lea
Sept. 23 —at Austin
Sept. 25 —Winona
Sept. 30 —Mankato East
Oct. 2 —at Mayo, 5 p.m.
Oct. 4 —Farmington, 1 p.m.
Oct. 7 —at section tournament, TBD
Oct. 9 —at section tournament, TBD
Oct. 14 —at section tournament, TBD
— Pat Ruff
