Veteran talent, stringy defense lead Mt. Pleasant boys soccer to strong start

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 1, 2018 | 7:30 PM

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Mt. Pleasant boys soccer coach Floyd Snyder expected his team to start the season strong.

Led by an experienced and talented lineup, the Vikings are 8-2 overall and 6-2 in Section 2-2A with two weeks left in the regular season.

“I had high expectations to begin with, but we’re where I want them to be,” Snyder said. “We’re playing tough and working well off the ball.

“We’ve had some success creating lots of good chances and proving we’re a tough matchup.”

Snyder said the Vikings’ successful play has been predicated on the wealth of experienced seniors and maturation and improvement of the back line.

Multi-year starting seniors Brad Tait, Sam Napper, Jack Shirley and Alex Pomarico have set the tone. Snyder said Tate and Napper create unique matchups for opponents, and when one is isolated, the other imposes his talent and puts the Vikings in position to get breakout goals.

“It’s a great thing to have their experience because they’ve been in every situation over the course of three or four years in different games, weather and all kinds of morning games, night games, middle of day …,” Snyder said. “They’ve seen it all, played it all.

“It really helps us especially when it gets hairy and we get frustrated. They are good at resetting everyone around them and moving forward from there.”

Pomarico said the experience and familiarity the seniors have from years of playing together is an irreplaceable aspect of their game.

“I think the experience is one of our biggest strengths,” Pomarico said. “We only lost three people (to graduation), but our whole starting lineup has been playing together since we were 7, 8, 9 years old. … We know each other well, and we know what we have to do to win.”

The Vikings’ defense, along with third-year starting goal keeper Shane Piper, have been a pleasant surprise for Snyder this season. Piper is the type of keeper, Snyder said, who has great field awareness and puts himself in positions to make difficult saves look easy.

“Shane’s record speaks for himself,” Snyder said. “Just the other night against Freeport, it was 1-0 at the time. He got over and made a crucial save at a big point in the game. We went on to win that game, but that save could have been the difference.”

On defense, senior Caleb Pfeifer, junior Arthur Bartlow, and sophomores Tyler Salvatore and Nathan Kubasky have jelled and become a difficult group to decipher. Snyder said one of the biggest differences he’s seen as the season has progressed is that the defense is now joining the attack and helping to maintain control of the ball.

With postseason play on the horizon, Snyder said there are still a few areas where the Vikings need to improve. He said they need to work on finishing opponents and putting games out of reach sooner. He noted the talent and playoff experience the team has will make for an easy fix.

“We need to work on our possession in offensive third and continue to be good in transition, but we can’t expect to be in transition the whole game,” he said. “If we make better decisions with the ball and also finishing, we will be a tough matchup.”

Brian Graham is a freelance writer.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant