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Eastwood boys soccer coach Frank Schemenauer could be speaking about a lot of teams when he says of this year's Eagles, “We've got a talented group and when they play together, the team does well.”
With half of its regular season completed, Eastwood is looking more and more like a championship team.
The Eagles were 6-0-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the Suburban Lakes League heading into key league matches at Genoa (Thursday) and Lake (Saturday).
“We are a well-balanced team,” said Schemenauer, whose squad has outscored the opposition by a 34-6 margin.
The Eagles have wins over Otsego, Tiffin Columbian, Tiffin Calvert, Wauseon, Napoleon and Cardinal Stritch, and they have ties against Woodmore and Liberty-Benton.
“Our team has showed its ability to rebound after a few stumbles,” said Schemenauer, in his sixth season as Eastwood's coach. “The result is good when we play well. We're a balanced team with a lot of soccer skills that likes to possess the ball. Sometimes finishing can be a problem, but when we control the tempo of the game, we're a much better team and more fluid.”
The Eagles are vying to regain the SLL title they shared with Genoa in 2008. Seven senior lettermen return from last year's team, which lost to Port Clinton in a shootout in the Division II sectional.
Five of those seniors – goalie Aaron Brinker, forward Sasha Ashton, midfielders Patrick Brogan and Taylor Depew and center defender Ryan Sieving – are three-year lettermen. The other two returning senior lettermen are midfielder Eric Sattler and fullback John Przybylski.
“All seven seniors are starters and they're all top-notch guys who have played with Arsenal of the ESSL under Ken Filar,” Schemenauer said. “He's coached a number of these boys in the offseason. He did a phenomenal job with these kids over the years and I have to give him some credit for developing these guys.”
Ashton leads the Eagles in scoring, with seven goals and eight assists, while Brogan has four goals and two assists. Brogan was a first-team All-SLL and second-team all-district selection last year, and Ashton was a second-team all-league pick.
“Sasha has excellent foot skills and is our best finisher,” Schemenauer said. “Patrick is an exceptional ball handler and distributes well. He's the guy who makes the pass before the assist. He's kind of an unsung hero.”
Depew has three goals and one assist this season; Sieving, a second-team all-league selection, has one goal.
“Taylor provides a lot of outside speed and is a constant offensive threat,” Schemenauer said. “Ryan has been a very solid part of the leadership on defense. Eric Sattler makes a consistent contribution in the middle of the field, and John Przybylski is the Mack truck of our defense. He's a solid player who anchors the left side of our defense.”
Caleb Vespi, an honorable mention All-SLL player last year, has contributed seven goals and one assist. The junior midfielder recorded a hat trick in Eastwood's 6-2 win over visiting Napoleon on Sept. 14.
“He's fast and he's finishing well,” Schemenauer said, “and the guys who distribute the ball are doing their job.”
Brinker, who is in his third year in goal, was a first-team all-league and second-team all-district selection as a junior.
“Aaron's making all the stops he's supposed to, and a few extras,” Schemenauer said. “He's a tall kid with a good frame and he's been bulking up a little bit.”
The coach pointed out that the Eagles' junior varsity team, which has 17 players, should be able to help the varsity squad reload next year.
“We have a talented group of younger players coming up, and that's a great thing,” Schemenauer said. “The jayvee team is 5-1-1 and doing really well. The commitment of the parents who kept their kids involved in travel soccer for many years has provided our program with very skilled and developed players, to which we owe much of our success.”
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