2017 Soccer Preview

The Futbol Cats are back and ready for the 2017 season.

After finishing the 2016 season in late November last fall with a record of 11-12-1, a loss in the first round of districts, and losing a total number of 12 players, this year’s Westminster soccer team looks to bounce back under the leadership of captains Frankie Sacco and Erik Bergman.

After the heartbreaking loss in penalty kicks last November against Parkway Central to end the Cats season, the returning players decided to not hang their heads low, but raise them high and look ahead towards the 2017 season. Many of the team’s players worked out and trained during the offseason to prepare, along with a few of the players playing with their club team. Senior captain, Erik Bergman said, “We knew that we would be losing almost our whole team from last year, so since day 1 of the offseason we had to prepare and get our upcoming team ready to step up and play at the varsity level.”

The loss of last years seniors is going to be the hot topic all year long, especially since last year’s starting lineup was built around that core group. Senior captain Frankie Sacco said, “The season may start off slow due to chemistry but once we find our groove together, as a team we will be unstoppable.”

Even with the loss, this year’s team is ready for the season and are expecting big things. Erik Bergman said, “As long as we concentrate for every game, we can contend with just about every team we play with.”

The name of the game for the Wildcats last year was defense. This year, since junior Nathan Laughlin, the only returning defensive player, is moving up to play in the midfield, Coach Legters has had to reshape an inexperienced backline to try and fill in the boots of last year’s stellar defense. With that, the soccer team expects to be a fast paced and high scoring offensive team this season, led by Erik Bergman, Frankie Sacco, Zach Cancila, and Trent Tarantino.

Wildcat soccer kicks off the season with their first game Saturday August 19 in the annual Metro League Tournament, which the Cats won last year.