Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Lake is coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history, having went 15-3-2 with a trip to regionals for the second time in program history behind a senior-laden squad featuring the likes of Greyson Reed and Travis Merrill.
However, after returning 70 percent of its offense last year, the Flyers lose 76.9 of their overall offense this season. Merrill, who produced a record-breaking campaign with 31 goals and 10 assists, and Reed, who had 17 goals and nine assists, were the team’s top two scorers.
Also graduated are the team’s fourth and fifth leading scorers from last year, Jonathan Specht and Ethan Bradfield.
“It’s going to be a rebuild,” head coach Chad Lillich said. “We've been trying to build depth back into the program. When you have a big senior class like that, a lot of times (younger) kids don't get the time they need to play and develop, so we have a lot of guys with not a lot of varsity experience that we're trying to get a lot of minutes at our tournaments that we've done this preseason.”
The team’s top returning scorer is Mason Sneed, who had nine goals and eight assists. He was third on the team in points. Another key returner is goalkeeper Mitchell Maguire, who made 102 saves. He had both the game-clinching goal and stop in the penalty kick phase of Lake’s district final win over Port Clinton.
“The good thing with that group is they've been around a successful program for years,” Lillich said. “Hopefully they can instill that winning mentality into those younger players, lead by example, and do the right things for us to be successful on and off the pitch.”
Also back are Evan Barta and Delfino Garcia, who had two goals apiece. Preston Snyder, who had six goals and nine assists as a sophomore in 2023, returns after missing most of last season due to injury. Keegan Perry is another one back.
“We're more of a team-system scoring,” Lillich said. “We're not more of an individual. We'll have a lot of guys who are probably spread out in scoring. Obviously it's hard to replace guys like that. They were phenomenal players for Lake. It’s going to be done by committee this year.”
Another returner for Lake is on the sideline, where Lillich is back for his second stint as head coach after guiding the Flyers for 10 seasons from 2008-17. Since then, he has spent time coaching Central Catholic and Maumee Valley.
Lillich guided Lake to its first-ever regional appearance in 2008. He also led the Flyers to a district final in 2012.
“I was just ready (to move on),” he said. “I felt the first time I was here, as long as I was here, that my voice was starting to not be as strong as it needed to be and needed to change. I went to Central Catholic for two years, won back-to-back district titles for the first time, and then we went to Maumee Valley for five years.”
This year’s team features four seniors — Garcia, Snyder, Sneed, and Andrew Solomon. Barta, a junior, is back, and freshman forward Ezekiel Ackerman will make his debut.
“They're playing a little bit of a different system,” Lillich said. “They've adapted pretty quickly. There’s more movement off the ball, so they're getting there.”
Another player who has “really impressed” is Grason Robertson, a junior defender. He will help as Lake looks to replace most of its back line.
That’s also where Maguire’s return is important.
“We're going to expect our goalie to take a lot of that communication and help out those young defenders,” Lillich said.
Lillich is confident that his team will compete despite the rebuild.
“I’m pretty sure that we’ll get stronger as the season goes on and hopefully make a good playoff run,” he said. “One of our strengths is our willingness to learn — the kids are picking stuff up pretty quickly. They're asking the right questions. Offensively, we're starting to figure things out with movement off the ball and service.”
