PREVIEW: Clay boys soccer

Jacob Stelmaszak takes over the Clay boys soccer program with high hopes for this year’s team, which features a talented roster.

“You’re going to see us turn the page from years prior,” he said. “We have a good handle on things and how we want to run the program. The boys are buying into what we're trying to sell, and we're hoping that can transition to the play on the field. We look forward to hopefully a successful season with a chance at running deep into the playoffs.”

Stelmaszak coached the JV team last year, and he has coached a lot of the current varsity players since they were kids. He is the board president of Oregon Crew FC, which is a youth academy within Oregon Recreation. With that, his goals are to get the players to compete as a team instead of having two or three guys trying to do it all.

“We have a really good core,” he said. “Our starting 11 is going to be very solid with a very experienced back line of mostly seniors.”

The Eagles return nine seniors from last year’s team that finished 7-8-3 overall and 4-4-2 in league play, including Nikolai Cholin, Antonio Diaz, Corbin Fox, Braylon McCrory, Brody Lambrecht, Dillon Spetz, Roman Garcia, Zach Duly and Zak Proestos.

Three of those seniors — Cholin, Diaz and Fox — compete with MLS NEXT, which is a youth development program in North America that was launched in 2020.

Cholin is expected to be one of the team’s top offensive threats this year.

“We’re definitely expecting a big year out of him,” Stelmaszak said. “Him and I have had several conversations as I was going through the process about the team and his involvement with the team. We're looking at him to be more of a leader this year than what he has been in the past.”

Diaz traditionally plays left wing for the Eagles, but Stelmaszak said he could be moved around to other positions this year, and Fox is the centerpiece of the back line who is a “big, strong, physical kid.”

On top of that trio, two seniors return after not playing last year in Lambrecht, a central defensive midfielder, and Duly, a “big, physical threat who has a lot of speed.”

“Brody is another kid with a very high IQ who is smart with the ball,” Stelmaszak said. “He's a good distributor of the ball and has good awareness of what's going on on the field and around him. He’s patient and doesn't panic. He's going to be a key piece to our defensive midfield area and help solidify that back line. Zach is going to give us a good push up top to hopefully wreak some havoc in the box and put some balls on net.”

Several key juniors are also back, including goalkeeper CJ Harrison, who was a Second Team All-NLL selection last year. He’s transitioned to playing soccer year-round, and he plays with the Toledo Celtics.

“I could see him making a push for being on the first team this year if not getting a goalie of the year type award,” Stelmaszak said. “He's put in a lot of work in the offseason.”

Chase Thompson and Landen Williams also join Harrison in the group of juniors. Thompson is a center defensive mid, and Williams is a center back.

“We're really trying to get Chase to be a little bit more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball,” Stelmaszak said. “He's got a really good shot, and I'm expecting a big year out of him as far as production goes and being a key piece to this group. (Landen) has a lot of experience back in the middle of the field, and he's a person that I can trust back there and not have to worry.

“Obviously, at goalkeeper, we're very solid with CJ being in there. We have a very strong midfield that's filled with juniors and seniors that are very high-experienced, high-IQ players that can take us to that next level.”

Among some younger guys who could make an impact are two-way sophomores Jake Hernandez and Blake Mummert. Another second-year kid, Talon Meyer, produced a lot at the varsity level as a freshman, and Stelmaszak said he will be on varsity full-time this year. Corbin Hawes is the lone freshman currently on the roster, who “has on-the-ball ability and knowledge of the game that’s way above his years.”

“As a group, I would expect us to compete for a league title,” Stelmaszak said. “We have a good amount of returning players, plus we have a very strong sophomore class. You'll see a lot of sophomores coming up and getting some minutes with the varsity.”

The rest of the coaching staff will be rounded out by long-time Northwood girls soccer head coach Monte Bandeen returning to his alma mater as a varsity assistant, as well as Jacob Hawes as the new JV coach.

“(Monte will) bring experience and serve as somebody who can help with goalkeeping to kind of take CJ to the next level,” Stelmaszak said. “He has a wealth of knowledge being around the high school game for as long as he has. He’s going to be a good asset.”

Hawes is a pastor in the community, has a wealth of soccer knowledge, comes from a soccer family, and played at the collegiate level. He is Corbin’s father and previously had two boys who came through the program.