Tim Mead has been coaching soccer at Walsh University longer than any of his players have been on Earth.
His career record of 279-192-29 tells you he has forgotten more soccer than most people on Earth will ever know.
But last year, Mead and the Cavaliers experienced an uncharacteristic 6-11-1 campaign. So, what is a coach to do? Part of the veteran coach’s plan to restore success has been: Get more Lake High alumni on the field.
I exaggerate, but it’s true.
Sophomore Nathaniel Milhoan, the former Federal League Player of the Year, started seven matches a year ago in the midfield and contributed three goals and one assist.
This year, Milhoan is a full-time starter, alternating between defender and midfielder, and has three assists to his credit.
Freshman defender Josh Habeck has made six starts.
Two more freshmen from Lake – defender Ethan Liskey and goalkeeper Will Shultz – are on the Cavaliers’ roster.
The Cavaliers currently are 7-5.
Green High alum Matt Charek, a junior defender, has made eight starts. Springfield grad, George Moga, a sophomore midfielder, has appeared in 11 matches.
More Lake soccer
First-year Lake girls soccer coach Les Drinkwater accepted a challenging situation. Taking over a team with nine seniors and trying to make changes is not easy.
“It’s been tough for the girls, with three coaches in four years,” said Drinkwater last Monday after a 3-0 loss to Hudson. “I’m happy. I think we’ve had a good season.”
The Blue Streaks will begin sectional play Monday at home against Alliance with a 6-8-2 mark, after winning three matches last year.
“So, we’re twice as good as last year,” he quipped.
But last week’s 9-1 loss to Jackson had to confirm for the Englishman how much work lies ahead in retooling the program.
“Next year is going to be tough, but I have a lot of freshmen coming on,” he said. “The following year, we should be better.”
“When I committed to the job, I said I wanted to do four years.”
Drinkwater, who came to the United States when he was 32, was the first varsity girls’ soccer coach at Coventry High in the mid-1990s and has continued to play soccer year around. His playing experience has included playing alongside a number of ex-professionals.
As a youth, his father ran a local soccer club, but son chose not to play for dad, rather than risk the cry of favoritism. Nonetheless, the game is in his blood.
“I tell it how it is. I don’t tell you you’re great player when you’re not. I’m going tell you exactly how it is, exactly how I feel. What you are doing right and what you are doing wrong and move forward,” Drinkwater said.
Panthers Liking The New Region 13
The Manchester Panthers football team (6-1, 4-0 in the PAC-7, as of this writing) has to like the new look of Division IV, Region 13.
Last year, Region 13 certainly was unlucky. Consider that St. Vincent-St. Mary, with a final record of 7-3, playing the likes of Cardinal Mooney, Ursuline, Archbishop Hoban, Walsh Jesuit, Akron Garfield, and Napoleon, was left out of the playoffs.
My opinion, but St. V-M was the best team in Northeast Ohio not in the 2008 high school football playoffs.
Region 13 was, relatively speaking, the toughest in the state, and few would argue. Last year’s top four: 1. Steubenville, 2, Tuslaw, 3. Lake County Perry, 4. Mooney.
Thankfully, the OHSAA realigns every two years based on enrollment and geography.
Steubenville and Mooney now are Division III schools. And surprise, surprise, Mooney is No. 1 in Region 9 and Steubenville is No. 1 in Region 11.
St. V-M followed Mooney to Region 9. No team left in Region 13 is particulary upset, including Manchester. The Panthers, currently No. 5 in the region, are trying to end a three-year playoff drought. If the configuration were the same as last year, Manchester probably would be No. 9.
The OHSAA regional playoffs had become a rite of fall under legendary coach Jim France and his dedicated staff. But after a miss in 2006, and then a 5-5 mark in 2007, Manchester faithful were beginning to realize just how much they missed Week 11.
Last year’s team probably would have made the grade in Region 13, if not for an implosion in the final two minutes against Tuslaw. The Panthers would have been 8-2, even with a loss at CVCA, and most likely would have been in the top eight.
This year’s crew doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. Coshocton, having beat the Panthers, is sitting No. 4 in Division IV, Region 15, at 6-1.
Comets Soccer
I am writing this column the day of the big match. Coventry was to play host Kent Roosevelt last Thursday for the Portage Trail Metro boys’ soccer title.
Coach Kiel Cox has provided stability and it sure helps when you have goal scorers. Senior striker Neso Ivanis has 18 goals and 12 assists and is the second leading scorer in the PTC, trailing only Brennen Hartung of Rootstown. Sophomore center midfielder Eric Ashley went into the big game with 11 goals and 12 assists.
Granted, Coventry’s statistics are a bit skewed with a 13-1 win over Streetsboro, an 8-4 win over Tuslaw, and two seven-goal games. That’s 35 of the team’s 53 goals in four matches.
But the Comets (11-2-2) have played their schedule and played it well, so well in fact, they earned a No. 4 seed in the Brunswick Division II District. Coventry will likely see St. Vincent-St. Mary in a sectional final on Saturday, Oct. 24, and that is one match you won’t want to miss.
Cross country poll released
I couldn’t help but notice the Green boys’ cross country team had fallen completely off the Oct. 14 state coaches poll. Last year, the Bulldogs placed fourth in Division I at the OHSAA championships and were gunning for a repeat trip this year.
Seniors Dylan Papp and Kyle Wheeler are a remarkable 1-2 punch at the top of the order, but evidently spots 3-4-5 haven’t solidified as some might have expected. When you talk about holding the No. 4 spot in the state, we unfairly assume some things. And the reality is 2009 is a different season from 2008. Injuries, illness, training and development, and a change of heart – all of these factors have an impact.
If you understand cross country scoring, then you’re aware that in this sport you really are only as good as your fifth runner. Let’s see how far these boys can take it because that’s also the beauty of sports, you don’t know until the race is run.
