High school boys soccer preview: Redhawks ready to soar again
Sep. 2—CENTRAL SQUARE — The Central Square boys soccer team enters the upcoming season with similar lofty objectives of the past but possessing a newfound understanding of how to obtain them.
The Redhawks are coming off their deepest playoff run ever last fall and the returning core contributors are eager to lead the unit back for a chance to make further history this year.
Central Square is scheduled to open the new season tonight with a 7 p.m. nonleague game against host Cicero-North Syracuse in the Optimist Tournament.
"We kept most of our players from last year, all but three of our starters, and we've been playing together for a very long time, so the chemistry is still there," said returning senior defender, Patrick Johns. "We're still in the swing of things and I think it will just carry over into this season."
Central Square claimed the program's first Section 3 playoff victory last season with a 7-0 win over Indian River in the Class A first round.
The Redhawks extended their postseason stay with wins over Watertown and Whitesboro to advance to their first sectional championship game before suffering a 2-0 season-ending loss to East Syracuse-Minoa.
Head coach Jason Mucha and returning starters believe that experience has sparked a productive offseason and built momentum behind the team that they hope to carry through the upcoming campaign.
"I think it kind of put our name out there," senior midfielder Ben Russell said. "We've always been good but never really shined in sectionals, we'd always get in but never went past that first game, but I think it put our name out there and everyone realizes what we can do."
Central Square finished 12-7-1 overall last year for the highest win total in Mucha's 12 previous seasons as head coach.
Throughout their first lengthy postseason run, returning seniors noted that team chemistry and overall group confidence strengthened with each victory, which has continued with players encouraging and pushing each other to train during the past summer.
"The bonding with the team (stood out last year), because you're there for everyone and got everyone's back when you know you either win or go home," senior defender Lucas Gipe said. "We weren't playing for ourselves, we were playing for every single one of our teammates."
The Redhawks bring back their top two goalies and starting defense, along with many of the midfielders that helped propel the team to new heights a season ago.
The returning unit is led by the senior trio of Russell, Johns, and Gipe, who represented the team at the preseason Section 3 media day at C-NS last month.
Central Square lost its top three scoring producers with the graduations of Bryce Koagel (30 goals-11 assists), Tyler Colton (29-14), and Matt Herrmann (8-11), according to the Section 3 stats website.
That threesome accounted for 87 percent of Central Square's offensive output, and Mucha believes developing the offensive game-plan will be critical in the early portion of the season.
"We'll have to get creative and see if we can punch goals in a different way this year, but we got some young guys that have stepped up this summer and shown that they compete and play, so they'll definitely get their opportunity," Mucha said.
"The group we're bringing back is really skilled and has lots of experience, so hopefully they incorporate the new youth, and we can get back to where we were," he added.
Games for all Oswego County boys soccer teams are set to begin over the weekend and through the coming week.
OSWEGO COUNTY
BOYS SOCCER TEAMS
Central Square Redhawks
Coach: Jason Mucha.
2021 record: 12-7.
Fulton Red Raiders:
Coach: Derek Lyons.
2021 record: 3-12.
Mexico Tigers
Coach: Nicholas Pachoud.
2021 record: 8-8.
Oswego Buccaneers
Coach: Don Fronk.
2021 record: 5-11.
Phoenix Firebirds
Coach: Chris Prenoveau.
2021 record: 11-5-1.
