Kiski Area boys soccer focused on positive reinforcement

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 24, 2018 | 8:15 PM

There was a method to Kiski Area coach Sean Arnold’s madness for a boys soccer tri-scrimmage against powerhouses Peters Township and South Fayette.

The results against last season’s WPIAL Class 4A runner-up (Peters Township) and a Class 3A semifinalist (South Fayette) didn’t concern the Cavaliers’ coach nearly as much as his team’s reaction did. With Kiski Area looking to move past its first non-playoff year in nearly a decade, he wanted to see a positive response to whatever might happen on the field.

“We were just worried about can these guys respond in the formation we’re in, can they deal with in-game adversity?” said Arnold, entering his fifth season as coach. “We just wanted to check them out in regards to the communication on the field, whether it was positive or negative. That was a test for us because last year’s team didn’t fare too well, and we thought they were kind of too negative. We’re pushing the positive reinforcement this year.”

A perennial WPIAL playoff team and a semifinalist as recently as 2015, Kiski Area slipped to 3-12-2 and 1-9-2 in Section 4-4A play last season, its nine-year postseason streak coming to an end.

That kind of season provides a spark for a program used to success.

“We’ve just got to keep everything positive,” senior goalkeeper Nick Smith said. “We like using last year as motivation. We don’t want that to happen again. It’s just all positive for our team. We’re working together to get past that.”

For his part, Arnold said the Cavaliers will look to “start a new chapter,” focusing on the future instead of what happened last season or in earlier successful campaigns.

Doing that became easier in the offseason when WPIAL realignment dropped Kiski Area to Class 3A and a corresponding new section.

The Cavaliers’ new Section 1-3A includes Armstrong, Hampton, Highlands, Indiana, Knoch, Mars and North Hills, and while Arnold still expects difficult competition, he believes his team can go in with a fresh start.

“Sometimes when you’re faced with a team year after year and you can’t beat them year after year, it starts to play mind games with you and has a negative effect on how you approach the game,” Arnold said. “I think mentally, it’ll be good that we’re in a new section. We can focus on ourselves instead of trying to play based on what’s given to us. We can play within ourselves.”

After fielding something of an inexperienced roster last season, Kiski Area will look for its returning players to provide a boost this fall.

That begins with Smith, whom Arnold said he believed was one of the top goalkeepers in the section.

“He’s kept us in games before,” Arnold said. “I would assume he’d do the same this year.”

Juniors Tyler Cuica and Ross Ziemianski likely will take on the biggest defensive reponsibilities in front of Smith, and Arnold moved junior Greg Paes from midfield to the back line to join them. Freshman Travis Rogal also will see some time on defense.

Junior Owen Anderson, who missed all of last season with an injury, comes back in the midfield. Freshman Aaron Witt will join him there. Senior Nico Paes could play midfield or forward, with senior Ronnie Coleman slotted in at forward.

While Smith and Kiski Area’s defenders look to make life difficult for their opponents, the Cavaliers will need to improve their offensive productivity this season, Arnold said. They were shut out nine times and scored 21 goals in 17 games, with 10 coming in one game against Valley.

Smith, who played offense in that game against Valley, finished second on the team in goals with three, and don’t expect to see him back at forward anytime soon — “I think that was probably a one-time thing,” he said. Instead, Arnold is looking to find several players to contribute.

“That’s what we’re going to be doing this week and next, trying to find the best formation for us to get more attack,” Arnold said. “The days with guys who could score 30 goals in a season are gone. We’ve got to come up with a new breed of scoring here. It’s going to be a team thing. We can’t rely on one guy to score goals.”

Teamwork and hard work are the biggest keys for Kiski Area this season, Arnold said.

“We just want to get back to where we were in the previous years,” Smith said. “It’s huge motivation. We don’t want to be remembered as the kids that ended the streak. We want to start a new thing this year and get farther than any team in the past.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Kiski School