Defense Could Lead to Winning for MRH Soccer

The boys soccer team , and head coach Chris Meyer is eager for his program to continue improving in 2011.

(Several photos from an August 15 practice were added to our Facebook page devoted to Blue Devils sports: www.facebook.com/MRHBlueDevils)

Meyer is in his 15th year as a coach for MRH, with 11 of those as head coach. Peter Phillips is an assistant coach for Meyer again this year.

“We lost to , and I think we kind of closed the gap,” he said. “They beat us by more earlier in the year. It was a pretty successful year. We’re aiming a little higher this season.”

Eduardo Verdia, Bobby Siebert, Mike Stewarts, Will Erker, Charles Boclair, Kyle Lang, Tony Biedenstein and Melvin Robinson have all graduated. The bulk of those players played the backfield, so defense is key this year for the Blue Devils.

“We gave up too many goals all last year,” Meyer said. “So, that’s what we’re kind of emphasizing. We’re emphasizing it until we think we’ve got it right. If that’s all we work on, that’s all we’re going to work on.”

Senior goalkeeper Dave Kunce is back, and underclassman Austin Golden also played in goal in 2010 and has been working hard to improve. Meyer said Golden will get more time in front of the net this year.

“He’s hungry, and he wants to play goalie,” he said.

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Forwards John Barron and Sam Martin, and Deontay Johnson, Josh Pinson and David Verdia, are returning varsity seniors. Clayton Burge and Will Wadsworth return as starting juniors.

Barron spent the summer with a family in Madrid, Spain, playing some high-quality soccer, he said. He also got to see Real Madrid play. Real Madrid is arguably the most successful club in Spanish professional football (soccer) history.

Barron said there’s a great attitude on the MRH team, and agrees with Meyers’ assessment.

“I think it’s going to come down to defense this year. We have the offensive talent to score goals. We lost a lot of our defenders,” he said. “So, if our defense can hold up this year, I think we’ll have a great season.”

They start the season in a Hannibal tournament on Sept. 9, which Meyer is looking forward to playing.

“It’s a good tournament for us because we play lot of Class 1 teams, but teams we never see any other time of the year. Sacred Heart was in it last year. They’re usually pretty good.”

After that, the Blue Devils get into their conference schedule. MRH's complete season schedule is available on STLHighSchoolSports.net.

In districts, Meyer thinks both Bayless and Brentwood will be good. “They always seem to be,” he said. “Both of those are going to be tough to beat. We just need to keep the ball out of the net more, that’s all.

“We’re confident in what we’re doing. The players seem to be buying in and doing what we ask,” Meyer said. “We’re focused on 100 percent effort every day, and continue learning and not being afraid of making mistakes. We just need a few guys to basically come out, try hard, listen and be coachable.”