Soccer Beat: Week 1

The 2011 Lancer soccer teams took the field for the first time at the black and blue scrimmage last Thursday. The event, attended by dozens of parents and students, was the first chance for fans to get a glimpse of this year’s squad, largely inexperienced after losing 17 seniors from last year.
All three Lancer teams played each other in three short scrimmages, but the main event was the Varsity-JV game, where the Varsity squad faced off with a JV squad that had proven more than capable of competing with the top team after a 1-0 victory in practice.
Varsity exacted their revenge in the scrimmage with a 3-0 victory, bolstered by two goals from junior Mitch Kaskie. Junior and returning starter Tyler Rathbun also added a goal with a sweet finish that bended around junior goalie Will Cray’s hands and into the net.
“I thought [the scrimmage] went well. The Varsity team moved the ball around quickly and finished their opportunities. To score three goals in 40 minutes is really good against a good JV team,” Coach Kelly said.
One of the biggest questions facing the team this year is who will step up and lead the team. After Thursday, the question still stands. One possibility is Rathbun, who has been on Varsity since his freshman year. Other candidates include senior Jeremy Young, juniors Clint Dunn and Bryce McClanahan, and newcomer Austin Wilcox, a junior transfer student from Maine. Wilcox plays for Sporting KC’s junior team, and is the X-factor for this year’s team. If he’s as good as he’s billed to be, the Lancers should be fun to watch.
The Lancers are scheduled to play their first game next Tuesday, September 6, against a Blue Valley squad that returns most of its’ starters and represents a tough initial challenge for East. Lancer fans can only hope that the team finds a leader by then.