Boys soccer preview: Jackson hopeful experience equals wins

Jackson senior defender Cody Boehme is more than thrilled the Indians' offense returns its top two goal scorers.

Junior forward Law Duncan is glad the Indians' defense features four senior defenders.

Indians coach Zack Walton is ecstatic about both.

"We have a lot of returners in every position," Walton said. "Cody Boehme is leading the back. We have Todd Heuring back, Jacob Scholl back and Hunter Garrison back. We should be strong in the back. All those guys have played there. Across the middle we have kids who have played there, and up top we have [Ryan] Schlick and Law."

While the defense is loaded with veterans, the Indians' offense features two juniors.

Jackson's Nick Rangel, left, works past Notre Dame's Logan Buchheit during Saturday's game at Notre Dame. (KRISTIN EBERTS ~ keberts@semissourian.com)

Ryan Schlick netted 10 goals last season, while Duncan had a team-high 15.

Those two will need to find the back of the net again for Jackson this season.

"They were good last year," Walton said. "They had to fill key holes and were kind of stuck in that spot with little experience. Hopefully we won't rely on those guys to do all the scoring. We have plenty of others that are capable. We can't expect those kids to do everything. They'll be keyed on."

Boehme is relieved that Duncan and Schlick will take some pressure off the defense.

"It feels good not being relied on the whole time," Boehme said. "We can go and attack and our offense can take care of it."

Duncan feels the same about the defense.

"We have a great defense back there," Duncan said. "They do a good job keeping the ball. The fullbacks distribute it a lot to the forwards and it helps the flow of the team."

The Indians are coming off an 18-6 season that saw an exciting 2-1 overtime victory against Seckman in the district finals before the Indians fell 8-0 at the mercy of state powerhouse Vianney in a sectional matchup.

This season they'll look to improve on that.

"Vianney was really good last year," Walton said. "The state championship was the next round between them and CBC, and CBC ended up winning it. The kids are keyed on that. But we want to win districts first. We have to take one game at a time. Upsets happen every year. But they're excited to try and earn another opportunity to get back to that sectional game. It's going to make them hungry."

The Indians may be hungry and feature a strong returning crew, but Walton said youth will play a huge role in this season's performance.

"Every year is a different team," Walton said. "We had some younger players that got experience last year and we did lose some good players. Kids are going to have to step up and fill holes. We're going to rely on younger players and need some sophomores to step up. It could make or break our year."

One aspect the Indians will try to work on this year is the pace of the game, something Walton said he's been preaching since the beginning of practice.

"One thing we're really working on is speed of play," Walton said. "Emphasizing to the kids to not get content."

But one advantage that will help Jackson is the amount of summer work the team put in together.

"They've worked all winter and all spring," Walton said. "Normally half the team or a couple of guys will play in the offseason. This year everyone played for a club team and it helped a lot. When we lost last year, they didn't get their heads down. They put in the time and effort and they want to compete."