In these difficult and challenging times it’s not easy to figure out which teams will be strong and which ones down a little bit as local clubs kick off the 2020 high school soccer season.
But you can only control what you can control and a coach can still get a pretty good feel when it comes to their own squad. And Dexter coach Drew Ducker has a very good feel for the team he will send out on the pitch this season.
“It’s tough to set expectations at times because at this point with the season starting, I’m not sure how good everyone else is,” says Ducker, now in his third year coach the always strong Dexter soccer program. “But I will say this, in the three years I’ve been here at Dexter, this may be the best group with the best chemistry I’ve had the pleasure to coach so far.
“And I know the boys are hungry and looking to advance much further than we did last year.”
The Dreadnaughts are led by their talented captains: seniors Hayden Newton, Jack Kolka and Nick Williamson along with junior Andrew Scherer.
Let’s break down the Dexter roster with a scouting report from Coach Ducker.
Senior Hayden Newton: “We will look for Hayden to lead our attack again this year. His ability to score goals has allowed him to become one of most dangerous players around the box. We look forward to seeing what he can produce for us this year.”
Senior Jack Kolka: “Kolka will lead and organize our back line again this year. His versatility allows him to play CB, LB and CM when needed, which makes him uniquely skilled as a center back.”
Senior Nick Williamson: “Nick will help lock down the midfield again for us this year. He is very solid defensively, super technical on the ball, and moves off the ball very well. We look forward to seeing how great his impact will be this year.
Junior Andrew Scherer: “Scherer helped hold down the midfield last year and will do so again. The leap he has made as a player from last year to this year is impressive. His strength, pace, and physicality have improved massively. But more impressive is his ability to read the game, both defensively and offensively. He will be a big leader for us this year and we will be expecting big things from him.”
Junior keeper Wiley Smith: “Wiley is back in goal for the third year in a row and is still finding ways to get better each year. His feet are solid, his wingspan is vast, and he is a monster in the air. It will be very tough to score on us this year.”
The Dreadnaughts play at Lincoln on Tuesday and at Adrian on Thursday.
