Notebook: South Bend-area high school soccer teams begin 2022 season

Falling one win short of a girls soccer state championship, Marian coach Henry Vu had a message for his team entering the 2022 season: Stay hungry and stay humble.

"We always want to work to get better this upcoming year," Vu said. "We accomplished a lot last year getting to the state final and setting program records in wins and goals against. Just wanting to get better than and keep pushing ourselves."

The Knights' quest to get back to the state final began with a bang Thursday night with Daisy Moody scoring both of her team's goals in a 2-0 win over Northridge. It was exactly the start to the season Vu was looking for.

"I was hoping to see us possess the ball, move the ball quick and stay organized defensively," Vu said. "If we can move the ball quick and have clean teaches, hopefully it will prepare us for the Saint Joe invite where we will play some tough teams."

Marian will have as much returning experience as anyone this season. Most of their starters saw the field in the 1-0, double-overtime loss to Evansville Memorial. The Knights also added back junior Mia Veldman, who scored three goals last year before tearing her ACL.

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Mixed together, Vu believes his team has the right blend to have another historic season this fall.

"I think this team can do special things if they keep growing together," Vu said.

Young Elkhart team struggles out of the gate

The Elkhart boys soccer team entered this season with a very inexperienced roster, graduating 17 players from last year's squad, who won its second consecutive 3A sectional title and advanced to the regional semifinals.

The young Lions found out this fall may be a bit more of a learning process a season-opening 3-0 loss to Goshen, where 10 guys played in their first varsity game.

"They are trying to gain that experience every little bit they can," head coach Todd Sheely said. "...I expect us to be better at the end of the year than we are right now. The schedule doesn't allow us to make tons of mistakes."

In this first week of games, the Lions will also play Northridge on Aug 18, as well as Columbus East and Castle (Newburgh) on Aug. 20. As the team grows, seniors Danny Lopez and Jared Garcia have stepped into leadership roles, as they did following Saturday's loss.

"Those guys coming back and knowing the level we have been at understand the level we need to work at," Sheely said. "They are the guys that are looked to now to be the leader. That's something I've been proud of."

Sheely believes his team can still get to the contending level his recent Elkhart teams have been at by the end of the regular season, and recognizes the process getting there won't happen overnight.

"We got to get better every game, every practice, gain some experience," Sheely said. "And figure where we can get minutes from guys and where do guys help us the most."

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Saint Joe girls could still be a scoring monster

Phil DePauw has put his team through a gauntlet of an opening week of games.

The Indians, who advanced to last year's 3A semi-state before losing to Homestead, opened their season Tuesday night with a 1-0 loss at Carmel and will play Evansville Memorial (last year's 2A champion) Friday night as part of the Indian Invite.

DePauw wants his team to embrace the early challenges, so they can learn where the weaknesses are before league play begins.

"Early matches in the season you are just trying to get a feel for where we are and what we need to work on," DePauw said. "We will get pushed and tested by last year’s state runner-up (Carmel) and (they) will expose areas where we need to work, which is always good early in the season."

The Indians boast one of the most talented rosters in the area, led by last year's co-Northern Indiana Conference MVP, Ella Frick.

Though Frick, who scored 29 goals last season, and her team were held goalless to begin the year, DePauw believes the Indians will become a scoring force again at some point this season.

"We still look to be a counter attacking team who has the ability to get out quick in transition and threaten the other team," DePauw said. "I like the attackers we have coming back."

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Penn boys soccer still holding strong program standards

Kyle Zaber, last year's boys soccer NIC coach of the year, had a message for his Penn soccer team, too: Last season was in the past.

"We come together with new pieces in the puzzle to make it come to life, and the one thing that stands true is the standards we set for the players the last couple of years," Zaber said. "From there, how we execute, it will turn out how it is supposed to turn out."

After falling short of a sectional title last season, losing to Elkhart in penalties, Penn began its 2022 slate on the right foot with a 2-1 win over Homestead. The Kingsmen's goals were scored by junior Daniel Contreras and sophomore Noe Ferreria. They also tied Northridge Tuesday night in a scoreless game.

"We worked very well as a team, supported each other and guys were very honest after the game when we assessed ourselves and had a 20-minute period where Homestead turned the tide against us," Zaber said of the opening game. "We had people honestly asses that we didn't live up to our standards."

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Through his team's first week of games, Zaber said he's taken note of the Kingsmen's deep bench, which will allow them to make subs when needed. However, Penn was also shown its areas of weakness.

"There are things we still need to work on....."Zaber said. "We have a great senior class that helps bring those standards to life every practice game."

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: High school soccer teams in South Bend, Indiana begin 2022 season