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Journey begins for North Country boys today |
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Wednesday, 27 August 2008 |
By JIM FULLER
Express Sports Editor
The North Country boys soccer team will open their 2008 season at Peoples Academy today.
It is a season with a lot of promise; a lot of leadership; and a lot of pressure.
And for four seniors, this season has been in the making a long time.
“We have a chance to do something special,” senior Adam Batista said.
“Our goal is November 1 (the Division 1 championship game) – that’s
what we’re going for.
“We have a lot of skilled players and we have players where everybody
knows their part. There are teams that can compete with us, but we’ll
be right there with the best teams.”
“I think we’ve got a lot of new young players who are going to step
up,” said senior Preston Ingram, who added this team “is a lot
different – a lot more focused” than last year.
Ingram said the difference should show in how the team finishes games.
“We’re going to be very strong defensively,” said senior Sean Pinard.
“We have all our returnees from last year. We have (juniors) Ellis
Rushford and Trevor Gray.
“They should be middies, but we have them back to run the flanks.”
Pinard said they also have Brad Patten, Colin Major, and Taylor Pecue, which makes the Falcons fast and deep on defense.
“We’re backed up by the best in the state – in my opinion – (senior
goalie) Tyler Blais,” Pinard said. “And we’ve got people who have
played together a long time.
“It’s a great team to be on this year.”
“We’re very senior-minded,” Blais said. “We’ve learned our lessons in Chittenden County.
“This is our year to make a run. Our team is strong and we’ve got Adam up top.
“We’re not too deep, but I think we’ll compete with every team we play.”
Blais said that with a favorable schedule (eight home games only four
trips to the Burlington area) and senior leadership, the Falcons are
primed to make a run at a championship.
“The four of us have come up all the way through together,” he said. “This is what it’s been for.”
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