Mikey Contreras, boys soccer
FREMONT – In a summer tournament at Bowling Green, the Fremont Ross boys soccer team found itself on the wrong end of a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Defiance.
But later in the tournament, with a few adjustments and a couple keys emphasized, Ross turned the tables on Defiance and cruised to a dominant 2-0 win of its own.
Those two summer friendlies against Defiance sum up what the Ross soccer program has been and what it could be this season. The Little Giants, who have not won a conference game in two years, see themselves as a team on the rise and ready to compete in and outside of the league.
“The goals we have set are we want to win at least 10 of our games, out of our 16, which I think is feasible,” said coach Alex Coressel. “When I look at the schedule, I see 12 we should have the possibility of winning. I think we should be in the upper half of the TRAC, which has never happened.”
A season ago Ross compiled a 4-9-3 record with an 0-5-2 mark in conference. But as they get set to open the season on Aug. 21 at home against Sandusky Perkins at 6 p.m., senior defender Spencer Bates believes the Little Giants are ready to take the next step as a program.
“There is a lot of talent on this field,” Batey said. “It’s just a question of harnessing that talent and trying to throw something together. I’m liking what I’m seeing so far in terms of practices and the scrimmages we’ve done. We’re a young team but if we can all get together, it will be all right.”
Spencer Batey, boys soccer
Coressel said Ross’ optimism stems from a revamped defense, infused with a stable group of defenders and a new defensive philosophy, ditching the offsides trap they employed last season which often left goalkeeper Mikey Contreras alone on an island.
“He’d get 130, 140 on-on-one opportunities throughout the year,” said Coressel of Contreras, who made 94 saves last year. “This year we scrapped the offsides trap and play more straight-up, try to contain shots and hopefully he’ll have a higher save percentage because of that.”
Coressel noted the Little Giants’ crop of defenders, led by Batey along with Chris Navarro, Mason DeWalt, Tim Moser and Robbie Baez, give Ross something they lacked last season.
“We have five right now that really want to play defense,” Coressel said. “Everybody wants to play midfield or forward, we didn’t have anybody that wants to play defense. And now we’ve got five that that (say) ‘I want to play defense.’”
That’s music to the ears of Contreras, the TRAC’s second-team all-league keeper.
“We got the defensive part down, we can hold people back but we have to start scoring more to push us over the edge,” Contreras said. “Because we’re there, we’re right there, we just need that little bump and we are set.”
Putting the ball in the net will, ultimately, determine how far the Little Giants will go this season, Coressel said. In order to generate more offense, Ross is varying up its attack and looking to junior forward Dylan Brady, senior midfielder Sam Durbin and sophomore forward Alec Slemmer to put the ball in the net. Last year Brady and Durbin each scored 11 goals with Durbin adding five assists and Brady with four.
“We’re focusing a lot right now on trying to work around the outside to get around defenses and then work the ball back in the middle, trying to give them easier looks to try to finish,” Coressel said. “It’s varying our offense instead of keep trying the thing that doesn’t work and ramming our head against the wall. Trying to create different opportunities for ourselves.”