Game Preview: Boys’ Soccer vs. SM West

The boys’ soccer team will kick off their 2013 season with a game against SM West at 8 p.m. this Friday at the SM Soccer Complex. The game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. but was pushed back due to a heat advisory. JV was moved to 6:30 p.m. at the complex while C-Team was moved to play at Indian Hills at 6:30 p.m.

The team has been battling the heat since Monday. Head Coach Jamie Kelly has been giving his team water breaks every 15 minutes to allow the team to cool down.

“The main [challenge] has been the heat because we haven’t been able to get the fitness that we would have like to have done,” Coach Kelly said. “And it always takes awhile to get in shape but because of the heat we haven’t been having conditioning, running so that will be challenging for the boys.”

To accommodate the heat, East will be focusing on scoring early in the game. Returning forwards Noah Eidemiller and Ari Throckmorton will be key players in gaining a lead early on.

Last year, the team beat West 5-1. However in the past five years, East has only beaten West once, in 2008.

“It’s a new season, a new players,” Coach Kelly said. “…It’s really up in the air. Until you get about four, five games into the season, you’re not really sure how good or bad teams will be so we’re just expected them to be very good and that’s how we’ll approach every game.”

Tune in at 8 p.m. to watch a live broadcast of the game. Follow @HarbieSports on Twitter for updates of the game and check back for a gallery and recap of the game.

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