Timberland Soccer Hoping to Avoid Hangover

Last season was about as good as they come for ’s first-year coach Tim Shearin. After four years as an assistant, Shearin took over a squad that was just reaching its peak and ran it to a spectacular 20-7 season. The Wolves won their district as well as their sectional game in the state tournament, finally finishing ranked seventh in the Missouri Coaches Poll and as the No. 2 public school in the state.

Now Shearin gets to tackle his first rebuild. Last year’s senior-loaded squad graduated 11 players, removing Timberland’s entire forward line and almost completely wiping out a defense that allowed just 16 goals last season. The 2011 squad features just six seniors and is refueling with seven sophomores.

“At this point of the season, I’ve been doing a lot more teaching than I had to do last year,” Shearin said. “There’s just a lot of learning we have to do at this time of year. We’re young, and we’re going to make mistakes, but they’re a good bunch of players. But the time we get to districts, we could be that sleeper team, you never know.”

All is not completely lost, and Shearin knows it. Timberland’s talent pool is already being pushed back up from the bottom, thanks to a freshman team that went 18-0 last year. And the curse of graduation did manage to leave one gem in midfielder Jack West. West is now starting his fourth year as a varsity starter after earning first-team all-conference as well as third-team all-state honors last season, tallying 10 goals and 6 assists, with two game-winners.

West is included in a midfield that returns three of its six from last season. Senior Sean Fields returns for his third year of varsity, as well as junior Tyler Lewis. Both wing-mids know the Timberland system extremely well and will help lead the young Wolves squad. Junior defenseman Josh Pins will build on a solid sophomore season that saw him stealing ample playing time from seniors in more than half of the games.

Timberland began its 2011 season Friday at Washington and will host on today for its first home game.

Wentzville Holt

“Hard luck” is usually a term kept for baseball, but the Indians soccer team knows the term all too well. On paper, last season’s record of 7-17-1 looks sub-par, but the game on the field told a different story. The Indians lost nine of those games in overtime—seven of them to penalty kicks. And just when Holt was ready to finally catch fire, after beating Howell 5-0 in districts, the squad went right back and lost 1-0 to Zumwalt West—in overtime.

“It was hard to believe, it really was,” said third-year coach Frank Livingstone. “We were ultimately right there with everyone, we just didn’t have that one guy who could up and score the tying goal or the winning goal. We hung with everybody, we just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Indians may have found their one guy—he’s been hiding in the net for three years. The Indians are contemplating moving four-year starting goalie Brad Fahs, one of the best keepers in the GAC South, up to the front line to impose some of his athletic strength. Also an all-state lacrosse player, Fahs has an outstanding foot that could be what Holt needs to break through.

The transition will impact roles all over the field. A sophomore and freshman pair of goalies will need to fill the void left in the net, putting pressure on solid junior center back Jeff Nickel to lock down the defense. If the back unit can stand tough, Fahs’ arrival on the front line could spell an offensive explosion alongside senior forward Erik Peyton, who contributed 7 goals and 4 assists last season.

“I think the talent is definitely there. It’s just a matter of the older guys like Fahs becoming a leader and making everyone else work hard around them, like I know they can,” Livingstone said.

Holt has plenty of time for testing before the 2011 season begins on  Sept. 12 at home against Francis Howell.