New Challenges, Gladly Accepted

Actually…

 

“We’re not rebuilding,” said Coach Rob Ukrop without hesitation. “We have the best field in the state. We have incredible support from the administration. We have terrific soccer players in our program, so I don’t think we’re rebuilding.”

 

That said…

 

“Did we lose some key players?” Ukrop continued. “Of course, we did. We have some inexperience in the back, but we also have some of the most talented kids we’ve had. We want to compete. We want to win. We want to make it four straight Prep League titles. We’re off to a very good start.”

 

Gone from the 24-1 team that outscored opponents 110-14 and recorded 15 shutouts are forward Charles Nolde, a prodigiously gifted five-season, oft-honored varsity performer, goalkeeper Thomas Word, and defenders Andrew Ascoli, Tom Meyers, Neil Meyers, George Kulp, and Cooper Winston-Evans.

 

“Defensively, we’re going to give up some goals, but we have the firepower to get those goals back,” Ukrop said. “We have some young, talented kids who, with experience and leadership, should compete for that Prep League title, and, once you get to the state tournament, anything can happen. That’s the beauty of the tournament.”

 

Ryland Musick, Quinn Pace, and Alexander Tan are auditioning to succeed Word, an All-Metro selection now playing for Hampden-Sydney.

 

Rhodes Neuner, Taylor Jenkins, Owen Herring, Mace Funkhouser, Ben Hager, Heath Holmes, Colin McLoughlin, William Smith, and Liam Brotherton will compete for minutes in the back.

 

“The guys stepping in have some big shoes to fill,” Ukrop said. “Every team’s unique. We don’t really care how many goals we get. We want to play great soccer. When you play great soccer, you end up winning games. We think we’re going to win a lot of games.”

 

There’s been total buy-in to Ukrop’s don’t-look-back, intentional, no-excuses approach.

 

“We’re focused on looking forward,” said Peter Hartmann, a senior captain, central midfielder, and All-Prep, All-VISAA, All-South Region, and All-Metro performer. “Every day’s super exciting. I’m grateful to be out here. We have talented players returning and talented players joining the team. We don’t really dwell on the past. The most dwelling we do is learning from the guys who led before us.”

 

The Cougars have gone 75-8-5 over the past five years and have won three league and two state championships. With success come expectations. Defeating the Cougars would be a signature victory for most teams on their schedule.

 

Pressure, then? No, not really.

 

“We go into every game no matter how good our opponent is holding ourselves to a high standard and holding ourselves accountable to play at the highest possible level we can play,” said Shaan Agarwal, also a senior captain, a center midfielder, and All-Prep, All-VISAA, and All-Metro performer. “We’re still figuring out our team. We have all the pieces. We have the talent. It’s mainly up to our older guys, the veterans, to mentor the younger guys.”

 

That responsibility falls mainly to the trio of captains, which also includes senior Joshua Parker.

 

“It’s been incredible watching how leaders in the past led the team,” Agarwal said. “It’s important for us to be vocal leaders, but it’s also important to be role models and put in 100 percent effort no matter what.”

 

The Cougars are now 4-0 after a come-from-behind 5-2 victory over Paul VI Tuesday, but there’s no resting on laurels. Tough tests with Cape Henry Collegiate, on the road, and Trinity Episcopal, St. Stephen’s-St. Agnes, St. Christopher’s, and Norfolk Academy, on the Charlie Blair Field, loom on the near horizon.

 

Every day brings new challenges, gladly accepted, to improve, perpetuate the tradition of excellence, and build on the legacy.

 

“That group that was together for three or four years had a fighter’s mentality in their DNA,” Ukrop said. “We think this group has it too, but we have to pull it out of them. A lot of teams want to take us down, so we’ll find out very quickly. Our goal is to win. It won’t be a clean path like we had last year, where every game we knew we were the better team. There’re going to be some games where we might be perceived as the team that’s less experienced.

 

“Early in the season, we’ll find out what we’re made of, we’ll test the mettle of the kids, and hopefully we’ll grow and by the time the [state] tournament gets here, we’ll be one of the top four seeds and make a run again. Soccer is a cool game. Right? You can play great and lose. Our plan is to play great and take care of business.”

~Weldon Bradshaw