Christian County has their third coach in as many seasons as Austin Byrum takes control of the Colonel soccer program looking to get back to district and region prominence.
The Colonels graduated seven seniors from last year’s squad that went 8-12-1 in Matt Gibson’s lone season as head coach. Christian County finished 1-2 in district play and lost to University Heights Academy 3-1 in the district tournament.
Byrum has five players returning who scored goals last year. Yeffrey Macario returns in the middle after scoring 12 goals and leading the team with seven assists.
Benito Rubio scored three times last year but will be expected to take on a larger scoring load in 2019.
Curtis Torian, Kenton Lancaster, Thomas Barrett, and Marcus Crockam all reached the scoring column last year, while newcomer Bryson Brown has been solid in the preseason and moved into a starting role.
The Colonels’ defense, which allowed over four goals a game last year, gave up two or less in three of their final five games of 2018.
Ethan Wells and McKay Dunn return to solidify a defense that should be improved this year. Jake Gibson and Elijah Deason will also see time on defense, and freshman Josh Settle takes over for older brother Ben in goal.
The Colonels will be looking to get back to the region tournament for the first time since 2014 when they won the title and advanced to the region title match.
Byrum, who played soccer at University Heights Academy and graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan, will be looking to keep the Colonels, who were mercurial at times in 2018, on the same page in 2019.
The Colonels will play a beefed-up schedule in 2019 that includes their Colonel Showcase and Hopkinsville’s Boots and Butts Soccer Classic at the Stadium of Champions. Christian County will also play in the Central Hardin Bruin Classic.
Christian County will open their season Thursday when they host Trigg County.
