Penn-Trafford boys aim to be ‘an excellent defensive soccer team’

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, August 28, 2018 | 7:45 PM

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Penn-Trafford had an intersquad boys soccer scrimmage last week on an ideal, sun-splashed evening at Warrior Stadium. But the name of the game wasn’t exactly to score more goals than the other team.

Sure, there was friendly trash-talking and the winning team got the last laugh. The pressure was on, though, to safeguard the nets and to create shadows around the forwards and midfielders.

The better defensive performances, not just the goal scorers, were recognized and even lauded by the coaching staff.

That is because defense is the emphasis, the tagline, this season for the Warriors.

“At least we hope so,” fourth-year coach Rick Nese said. “We want to be an excellent defensive soccer team.”

The Warriors posted a half-dozen shutouts last year, but they plan to deliver a few more with a number of key lettermen back, some of whom are not necessarily returning starters but are experienced nonetheless.

“Even though we lost a lot of talented players, we had a lot of good guys on the bench, too,” senior defender Andrew Wertz said. “A lot of our practices have focused on defense. We can be just as good defensively as we were last year.”

The Warriors were dealt a 2-0 loss to Butler in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs to finish with an 11-4-2 record.

The defeat left the Warriors a bit dumbstruck, and it still lingers because they had opportunities, or at least the makings of some, but were frustrated by clogged passing lanes and a lack of flow-through movement.

“Butler did a very good job,” Nese said. “We possessed the ball, but they had a great counterattack; Pine-Richland did something similar (two years ago in the quarterfinals). We stressed pressure and not getting caught in possession. We need to be more disciplined.”

And more generous with the ball. Nese admitted the Warriors became slightly passive offensively as they tried to funnel everything through All-WPIAL midfielder Austin Kreutzberger, now at Radford. Kreutzberger had 46 career goals.

“We need to be more disciplined and play as a team,” Nese said, “not individuals.”

Junior Tyler Pisarek could be one of the team’s top scoring threats this time around.

“He really started coming and was our leading scorer in the second half of the season,” Nese said. “He has a knack for finding the right spots.”

Other top returnees are three-year starting senior midfielder Noah Slessinger and senior goalkeeper Logan Kreutzberger.

“Logan comes from a long lineage of talented players; his two older brothers played here,” Nese said. “He has been in the mix for us since he was a sophomore.”

Additional players with valuable varsity time include senior defender Jake Konkus; junior midfielder Reno Kearns; senior forward Keaton Hier, the kicker on the football team; and senior midfielder Franco Catalano.

Nese also mentioned the potential that lurks within a strong freshman class. Nathan Schlessinger, the younger brother of Noah, is one to watch.

The usual pair of section games against rival Norwin loom large on the schedule, which opens with the Peters Township tournament Friday.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Penn-Trafford