A 2014 season in which Polk County finished 12-6-2 and earned a first-round home playoff game exceeded the expectations of Wolverine boys soccer coach Lennox Charles.
But as Charles and the Wolverines prepare to open their 2015 season on Monday, traveling to North Henderson, Charles isn’t sure whether to expect a repeat of last season’s success or not.
Primarily because he isn’t certain what to expect at all.
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“We lost 13 seniors, and nine of those contributed,” Charles said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces.”
Fortunately, there are some familiar names gracing the Polk County lineup.
Two all-Western Highlands Conference selections – midfielder Jeremy Allsbrook and defender Garrett Weicker – return. Brad Blackwell returns and will join Weicker in the back, with Nate Smart rejoining Allsbrook in midfield. Wil Rimer will be looked to for scoring punch at forward. All five of those players are seniors.
Who steps up to join that group is a key question for Charles entering the season.
“We have numbers this year,” said Charles, who expects somewhere between 35-40 players to fill out the varsity and junior varsity rosters. “What we don’t have is a big group of juniors. So we may end up with five or six sophomores, maybe even a freshman, on varsity. Last year we did a really good job and had a really good team, and seniors had a big hand in that.
“How well we do will depend on what the sophomores and juniors add. We know what we’re getting from those five seniors, but who out of the rest of the group is going to step up and make contributions. Some will, but the question is, how fast can they and how consistently.”
Rudy Macias and Wilson Edwards, who split time in goal in Polk County’s regular-season finale last year, lead a group looking to replace all-conference goalkeeper Tyler Campbell.
Charles expects another tough Western Highlands Conference title chase and hopes to see the Wolverines among the contenders.
“I feel like we should compete to be in the top three,” Charles said. “That’s the goal. You always want to win, but if not, we want to finish in the top three.
“With the numbers we have, players are going to have to compete at practice, going to have to show up to get on the field. Hopefully, that will help us, pushing each other in practice to get onto the field.”
