Shaler boys soccer makes adjustments on the fly

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, October 8, 2017 | 11:00 PM

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Making adjustments has been a recurring theme for the Shaler boys soccer team.

Titans senior defender Marc Kwiatkowski had to become a communicator. Following an injury to junior defender Peter Moorey, Shaler coach Adam Hunter asked Kwiatkowski to help anchor the last line.

Not an easy task for Kwiatkowski.

“That was a huge adjustment for Mark,” Hunter said. “He is a quiet, soft-spoken person. He has a tremendous work ethic, but he is not a loud person.”

Making adjustments has been necessary for the Titans. Shaler also lost Tanner Grzegorczyk and James Regan for the season.

All of those factors have the Titans (5-9, 2-7) changing their goals. Initially, Shaler wanted to finish with a winning record. Now, the Titans want to send their seniors out with the most wins of their career.

With two wins in its past three games, Shaler is in position to do so. This class played through four, seven and five-win seasons. Winning three of their last four games, all on the road, would get the job done.

The Titans, who played Woodland Hills on Monday in a game whose results were too late for this edition, beat North Hills, 7-0, last Friday.

“First and foremost, I want to send our seniors out on a high note,” Hunter said. “I did a card where I gave them a couple questions they answered for me. The majority of the team said they want to finish with a .500 record if not better. We can't get to .500, but we can get close. It would be fantastic to give them an opportunity to give them more wins their senior year than they had any other year.”

Shaler has a section game remaining against Pine-Richland. The Titans also will take on Moon and Allderdice.

Adjusting to each team won't be hard for Shaler. It's something they have become accustomed to.

“A lot of players have the experience and exposure,” Hunter said. ‘It's been good for those players, but we're not getting the results we would like to get.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: Shaler