By Josh Manck/Sports Writer www.burlesoncrowley.com
Jan
10, 2006, 13:06
CROWLEY
— After playoff performances in 2005, the
2005 was a stellar year for the
Lady Eagles, who ran the table in district play before advancing to the regional
semifinals, where they were knocked out of the playoffs by
In the two previous rounds, the
Lady Eagles posted two consecutive clean sheets with 1-0 wins over Dallas
Hillcrest and Red Oak.
And the Lady Eagles are stocked to
the brim with the personnel to repeat as district champions with the return of
two all-region players from last year's team.
District MVP Tisha Diaz and
all-district performer Kelly Sprole were both named to the all-region team, and
will be looked to provide leadership in a senior-laden team.
Sprole will help anchor the back
line, along with senior Lauren Adams, in a 3-5-2 system employed by head coach
Mike King.
“Kelly has great speed and has
great tactical awareness,” King said. “She does a very good job organizing
the field in front of her.”
The midfield will line up with
five players in a setup which has two central defensive midfielders, two
midfielders out wide on the wings and an attacking midfielder, all of whom will
be looked to help set up the two strikers. This setup requires lots of
athleticism and speed so that the defensive coverage doesn't break down, and
King believes his team posesses those qualities.
Leading the way for the Lady Eagle
midfield will be senior Anna Folchert in one of the defensive midfield positions
with senior Lauren Parker and junior Emily Sotelo on the wings. Parker and
Sotelo tied for the team lead in assists in 2005.
“Our midfield is very good at
getting forward,” King said. “They love to get wide and use their speed.
Their goal is to try and spread out the opposition and mak them chase, which
will lead to goals."
Diaz will split her time between
the attacking midfield position and striker to try and beat her 20-goal tally
from last season.
“Tisha can really finish on
goal,” King said. “She’s a very dynamic player. She’s not going to blast
one on you from 30 yards out, but once she gets inside the 18-yard box, she can
really hurt you.”
As far as repeating as District
12-4A champions, King knows one huge roadblock sits in every other team’s way.
And that is the the Aledo Lady
Bearcats.
“Aledo is always the big dog in
district,” King said. “They’re young this year, but they’re full of
speed.
On the boys’ team last year, the
results were not as pleasing as the girls.
But that’s not to say the Eagles
didn’t have a good season.
Coach Bryan Johnson’s Eagles
were the District 12-4A runner-up to the Aledo Bearcats. They were knocked off
in the bi-district round of the playoffs by Arlington Seguin in a surprise
upset, to finish off a season that Johnson says “wasn’t very good.”
The Eagles will have to step up in
their offensive efforts to replace departed striker Steven Tucker, who has taken
his game to the collegiate level at
One of the rock solid strengths of
this season’s Eagle squad comes in the form of junior goalkeeper Jonathan
Lester. This year will be Lester’s thrid year starting between the posts for
“Jonathan is very athletic and
has great feet,” Johnson said. “He’s good in the air, and he's good on the
ground. He’s 6-1, 180, and he’s growing everyday. His mindset is that
nothing gets by hime, and with his talent and that mindset, that’s
possible.”
In front of defense, the Eagles
will be starting a brand new back four for the third consecutive year to be the
backstop in the 4-4-2 formation.
King will start a freshman, a
sophomore and two seniors who were forwards last year.
Seniors Aaron Teeter and Scott
Levin, along with freshman Cody Hale, will be key players on the inexperienced
back line.
“We’ve got speed back there,
and speed kills,” Johnson said.
“They really just want to prove
themselves. All four of my starters play forward in club ball, but they’re
great athletes who need to be on the field.”
In the midfield, leadership will
be expected from senior Andy Von Feldt, who will be starting in central midfield
for the fourth consecutive year for the Eagles.
Von Feldt will team up in the
central midfield with freshman Cesar Ortiz for an “odd couple”
senior-freshman tandem.
“Andy’s a huge threat out of
midfield,” Johnson said. “He’s a player who might wind up unmarked, and he
can really get up and down the field. He’s a physical player, but he’s good
with the ball at his feet as well. He and Cesar will have to learn how to team
up, but I have all the confidence in the world that will happen.”
The outside midfielders will be a
position in flux for the Eagles, but consistent performance will be expected
from the starters.
“Our outside midfielders will be
very interchangeable, and I expect a lot of playing time out of a lot of
individuals,” Johnson said.
The starters will be Danny Meserve
on the right side, and Kelly Convery on the left side. Meserve started at right
back for the Eagles last year, and Convery’s style of play can be compared to
a
According to Johnson, Convery’s
style is similar to that of Bobby Convey, who is an athletic playmaker on the
left wing who has parlayed his talents to a spot with
Both Convey and Convery are
naturally left-footed, which is harder to find at the high school level, and is
a great asset to a team.
“Both Kelly and Danny play
outside defender on their club teams, so they understand how important it is for
the outside midfielders to get back and help on defense, as well as attack,”
Johnson said. “They can also both send in a great cross to the strikers.”
The strike force for the Eagles
will consist of two relative unknowns coming into the season.
One starter will be senior Chris
Swager, who played for
After moving back to
Teaming up with Swager up top will
be junior Joel Hargrave.
“Chris is big and strong in the
air, sort of like [national team player] Brian McBride,” Johnson said.
“Hopefully, Chris and Joel will team up and show everyone they have something
this season.”
As for team expectations, Johnson
is impressed with the excitement that is permeating the Eagle program this year.
“We’re only returning three
starters, which is unusal for our program. All of the kids are very excited, and
it makes me feel like this is my first year coaching all over again,” Johnson
said. “The kids want us to have an undefeated district season, and I like that
attitude. If you believe that, it’ll happen. It might not happen this year,
but if it doesn’t, it lays the groundwork for that to happen in the future.
But most importantly, we want to be successful and have fun, all in the same
breath.”
Josh Manck can be reached at
817-558-2855, ext. 2335, or sportsreporter@burlesoncrowley.com