PREVIEW: Oak Harbor boys soccer

One year ago, Grant LaPeer and the Oak Harbor boys soccer team finished 8-9-1 after all-state forward Fulton Krupp suffered a season-ending injury.

“We kind of made do and did a nice job,” LaPeer said. “The guys that had to step up, they stepped up. This year, it'll be pretty much looking at more consistency of what we had last year — just bringing the energy and everything of what happened last year into this year.

“We lost some key roles here and there, but we have athletes stepping up into those positions. The younger guys who were on the sidelines, they're the ones stepping up. It’s just a matter of keeping the same mentality as last year and understanding it’s more about consistency this year.”

Entering his fifth season, LaPeer and the Rockets will have to overcome the graduation of guys like Joey Judge, who was a First Team All-NBC defender and a key four-year member of the program, as well as Owen Gradel and Trace German. Gradel was Second Team All-NBC.

A group of five seniors this year will look to help fill some of those holes, including Colton Spencer, who steps in to fill Judge’s role. Josh Monhollen and Aidan Boss will be the playmakers in the center for offense, and Billy Zunk enters his second year as the starter in the net, as well.

Boss and Zunk were both Honorable Mention All-NBC.

“All of them are going to have very, very key roles in the dynamic this year,” LaPeer said. “There's not one athlete who’s going to sit the bench. That senior class, every one of those athletes are going to be huge this year for this group.”

LaPeer said the offensive threats such as Second Team All-NBC selection Zavier Hess, junior Xavier Flower and Boss — as more of an attacking midfielder — are coming into their own.

“That's always been kind of one of our big strengths,” he said. “We lost a couple players last year, and now that it's going to be more highlighted on them, we'll see how they do their thing. That (unit is) a little bit more of our stronger suit right now, but Billy Zunk has been an excellent goalie for us, too.”

The Rockets feature a couple other key returners including sophomore forward JT Antesberger and junior center defenseman Liam Peters. Carter Hartman is another key defender.

“There's some great athletes all the way around that are looking to step up,” LaPeer said.

Oak Harbor’s mentality as a team will be a strength this year according to LaPeer, who is entering his eighth year overall with the program.

“They're easygoing kids, but they just want to win,” he said. “They're extremely happy to play, but they also want to win, and that's just kind of what excites me. The group as a whole has been just an awesome group to work with.”

LaPeer expects his team to be very competitive this year despite some tough games on the slate.

“The juniors and seniors have been playing quite well together over the last couple of years,” he said. “I'm expecting them to compete against really any team they go against, and hopefully we can get them set up and prepared for each game. Every game we take a little bit differently and set up and prepare differently, and hopefully we get those guys in the right position where they're always going to be challenging this year for every game.

“There are no games where we're looking like we're going to struggle or anything like that. We're going to give it our all and just definitely keep it a good battle.”