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Perception is no longer reality at Cardinal Stritch.
Second-year boys soccer coach Dave Skoczyn and his son, David, a Stritch assistant, have the Cardinals sitting at 12-3 and 6-2 in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference heading into Saturday's regular-season finale against Rossford.
Stritch finished second in the TAAC this season behind the state’s third-ranked Division III team, Ottawa Hills (12-2-1, 8-0). Stritch never won more than eight games in a season prior to this year. The Cardinals' best finish was 8-8 in 2003, their first year as a varsity program.
“Stritch has been the kicking post for a lot of other soccer teams,” said Skoczyn, who was an assistant at Stritch for one year before becoming head coach. “When you came to play Stritch, we had the reputation we were going to lose. In the first two years we (coaches) were here, the other team would score and the kids would put their heads down and stop competing.”
Skoczyn said his No. 1 challenge was to change the Cardinals' mindset, in that “no matter what happens during a game, don't give up.”
“You have to take baby steps,” Skoczyn said. “As a coach, you're trying to get the kids to play an 80-minute game from start to finish. That's been our two things – the mindset and, No. 2, play the full 80 minutes and we'll see where we're at. Most of the kids this year thought that if we could get to 8-10 wins, that would be the best thing ever.”
Experience has been a key factor in the Cardinals' turnaround. This year's squad features four juniors – goalie Kyle Hatfield, midfielders Justin Moore and Nathan Waymer and defender Marcus Judy - who are three-year starters.
The Cardinals' only losses this season are to Ottawa Hills (twice), which won the 2008 Division III state championship, and D-II Eastwood, which is 11-2-2. Stritch finished with a 5-12 record last season, dropping six games that were decided by one goal.
“The games we lost last year are the games we have won this year,” Skoczyn said. “The TAAC games have all been pretty close. Besides Ottawa Hills, everyone else is pretty even. Anybody can beat anybody.”
The Cardinals became a closer team over the summer, when they participated in an offseason conditioning program for the second straight year. The players and coaches got together twice a week to lift weights “and play a game of keep-away, kicking the ball around,” according to Skoczyn.
“In past years we've had four or five kids coming in,” he said, “and this year we averaged 10-12 kids every session. We've made huge strides in a short amount of time, mostly because the kids have been dedicated to come out and play.”
The Cardinals' most versatile player is senior forward Danny Rogers, who has six assists to go along with his team-leading 16 goals. Rogers was a second-team All-TAAC midfielder last season.
“He's probably our most experienced player,” Skoczyn said. “He plays a lot of club soccer. He just brings soccer smarts to our team and he's very good with the ball. His best game was against Toledo Christian, when he had three goals. All of them were by beating one or two guys one-on-one, and all of them were rockets into the goal. That was his best performance in the three years I've been coaching him.”
Moore, a co-captain who moved from forward to midfield this season, has five goals and seven assists.
“Danny played where Justin is playing this year, kind of the center-midfielder or quarterback,” Skoczyn said. “Danny was good at that position last year, but we needed someone who could score up top so we moved Justin into Danny's role and it was like, maybe we should have done that last year. Those two understand each other and play off of each other a ton.”
Senior sweeper and co-captain Tyler Shoup was a first-team All-TAAC pick as a sophomore and a second-team selection as a junior. Shoup has one goal this season, on a penalty kick.
“He barely played his freshman year,” Skoczyn said. “He was more of a midfield player, but I looked at my two other coaches and said, 'I think we've found a sweeper.' We had to kind of sell it to Tyler. Tyler has brought all these kids together in the back, kind of an us versus them (mentality). They want to be the defenders together in drills and that's helped our team defense tremendously.”
Hatfield has used his 6-foot-5 frame to record 80 saves this season.
“He has the wingspan of a giant eagle,” Skoczyn said. “He's worked hard to make himself into a better goalkeeper. He's so imposing back there at 6-5, kids don't want to go against him.”
Stritch, the No. 2 seed, earned a first-round bye at the D-III sectional at Ottawa Hills. The Cardinals face either Maumee Valley or Swanton on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.
“It's good to get a bye,” Skoczyn said. “Sometimes if you're the bye team, you can get a whole weeks' rest and you can kind of let the other two teams beat each other up. We'll scout off that game and see where we're at.”
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