Boy's Soccer Season Preview: Lack of holes put Knights in position to repeat

By Ben Spector
Winning After MidKnight

MIDDLETOWN-It seems like it was just yesterday that the Middletown High School Knights Varsity Boy’s Soccer team was on the turf at Loyola University of Maryland celebrating their 2016 Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (M.P.S.S.A.A.) 2A Boy’s Soccer State Championship, having just taken down La Plata 4-0.

That night the Knights would celebrate the title and the realization that all their success and hard work during the 2015-2016 season had paid off and that they had reached the goals that they had set for themselves sent those opening early practices in August.

But, somewhere in the back of the players and the coaches’ heads on Middletown was the realization that not only had the Knights just done what every team sets out to do in August but that come next August the Knights would be pretty much the same team that they are today with only a few changes effecting them.

Next August has become this August and as was imagined the Knights have a few small holes but the majority of the spots that are essential to Middletown have been filled since the trophy was lifted back in Baltimore in November.

With this lack of holes it would seem like a reasonable assumption that the goal for Middletown would be to secure another state championship since the Knights are the closest they will ever get to having the same personnel as last year’s squad.

The Knights are not going to have that vision right now, or at least just yet.

“This year we decided that we are almost forgetting everything we did last year and are focused on what lies ahead,” said Knights senior midfielder Luke Ahalt. “We have the talent and the expectations to win again but all we can do is take it practice by practice and game by game.”

This is an understandable approach from a team led by Middletown head coach Jeff Colsh, who is as about a humble and patient coach as you can come by in Maryland high school soccer.

One of the things that led to the Knights to a state championship last year was the determination of Colsh and his tendency to push his players to be better in every aspect of the game and in the end those tenants helped the Knights lift a title.

The Knights though will need to figure out a few spots in their starting lineup as Middletown did graduate a few of the key pieces from last year’s team.

The most important of these will be in the net as the Knights graduated senior goalkeeper Eric Reichelt, who had a tremendous season in net for the Knights and paid a big part in Middletown’s success last year.

There is a host of talent that the Knights have to fill in including senior Ethan Remsberg and sophomore David Anderson. Remsberg will be the most likely candidate to take Reichelt’s starting spot for the Knights but Anderson will also most likely see time in net to start the season.

Past the goalkeeper hole the Knights are in excellent shape to recover from the losses that occurred last year. One of the ones that the Knights on paper will shrug off without a doubt will be the loss of Clay Smith up front.

Smith was a tremendous talent for the Knights but, as could be seen last year, they are teaming with talent up front who can score and replace the talent that Smith had for the Knights.

The perfect example of this for the Knights would be Ahalt, a central midfielder by trade, but has shown the ability to move up the field at times and create scoring chances and get in the attacking flow of the game.

Also helping up front for the Knights will be seniors Joshua Woozley and Chase Stottlemyer who have both shown a knack for getting up in the play and being offensively minded at times.

Adding to the positives of returning so many players is the belief that the Knights’ chemistry has been changed much for the better because of it.

“It’s huge,” said Ahalt.”Our team chemistry was incredible last year and we hope to have the same bond this year.”

The chemistry for the Knights will have a chance to shine as they’ll start their season on Friday September 2^nd and if everything clicks then the similarities between this year and next might culminate with a very similar trophy being raised towards the sky.