Hopkins County Central is not only hoping to get back to the regional soccer tournament this season, but make a little noise when they get there.
However, Storm head coach Ben Lutz knows his squad has some work to do to make that a reality.
“We have had to replace six starters from last year’s team,” he noted. “Some substitutes or role players last year will be asked to step up their roles and contribute a little more.
“The way I see it, we have the regular season to prepare us for the postseason. By Sept. 17, we will know who will be playing the first round of the district tournament. After we know who we play, I use those remaining games as a chance to prepare us. After going to the region tournament for this first time in program history in 2016, we have been three of the last four years. A return trip will be a goal of ours for the upcoming season, and to possibly win a game.”
The Storm defense allowed 2.5 goals a game last year.
“We always pride ourselves on our defense. I played defense here at HCCHS and it is a big focus of mine,” Lutz noted. “We return most of our defenders from last year, so it will be nice to start where we left off and dive into deeper tactics and skills. Our defense is what helped keep us close against region powerhouses Henderson and Hopkinsville last year.
“Graham Foster, Tyler Dunlap, and Connor Tucker will be anchoring our defense for us this year,” said Lutz.Foster and Dunlap are seniors while Tucker is a junior.
“Out of our returning players, Gavin Lear (a junior) had the most goals. So, we are looking to see his name continue at the top of the goals scored list for us.”
Several players will try to step in and replace the departed starters from a year ago.
“Trevor Weldon will be replacing a four-year starter. We are excited to have him show us what he can do,” said Lutz. “We our also looking for our front players like Tim Clevenger, Julio Rivera and Jaxon Greer to come in and help put the ball in the back of the net. Also look out for Colton Browning, who will be dictating the midfield for us.”
Hopkins Central hopes to get more out of its offense this season after netting only 27 goals in 20 matches last season.
“Typically, HCCHS struggles scoring goals,” said Lutz. “We were tied for second to last in the region last year in total goals scored. With losing two-thirds of our goals from last year, we will have to work hard to find new names to add to the score sheet. That is something we have been working on in these practices.
“You could have a great defensive game, but you make one mistake and you lose 1-0. We need to put the ball in the back of the net to cover for those mistakes. We can’t depend on the defense to play a perfect game night in and night out. We averaged 1.35 goals per game last year. I think a good target for us would be to try and be around 2.5 or 3 goals per game.”
Madisonville-North Hopkins has dominated the 7th District in soccer, but the Maroons suffered heavy graduation losses from last year’s 20-4-2 regional championship squad.
Could that open the door for either Hopkins Central or Caldwell County to end Madisonville’s district championship run?
“Madisonville lost a lot from 2019’s Sweet Sixteen team, but they have won the 7th every year since redistricting,” said Lutz. “While Caldwell may have the youngest team on paper, they may be the most experienced since they only lost their goalkeeper from last year. Since 2016 we have either had a shootout or an overtime game with Caldwell, so those are always close battles.
“I am anticipating a close district race this year with just about anything happening.”
