NTL BOYS SOCCER: DEFENDING DISTRICT CHAMPION ATHENS EXCITED TO BE BACK ON FIELD FOR 2019 (16 PHOTOS) (2019-08-14)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportATHENS "” Longtime Athens boys soccer coach Jake Lezak is excited to be back on the field in the wake of last season's District 4, Class AAA title, and first-ever state playoff win. Better yet, the Wildcats have nearly everyone back.
"It's pretty exciting," said Lezak, entering his 15th season as head coach. "We know we bring a lot back.
"After last year, the atmosphere around the players is buzzing right now," he noted. "Every day, they're trying to get more training in, and I keep telling them they need to rest a little, it's going to be a long season."
With success comes numbers.
"The numbers are pretty solid. We're at 32, I'm very pleased.
"We have a very big senior class, we have 12 seniors, but we bring in a freshman class of nine, so that really helps us next year when everybody hopes we're going to have a down year," said Lezak.
"We have some good talent in our younger guys," he added. "They come in with a very technical skill set and background, so it's going to be easy to make them grow."
Lezak said this team's experience and success is a double-edged sword.
"That's the big challenge for me as a coach," he said. "How do we lose four seniors, two of which were starters, when you're use to losing six or eight guys every season, and how do we make it better than last year?
"The answer is, we work harder," noted Lezak. "There's always something we can improve on.
"We're not the best, we didn't finish at the top," he added. "We got beat."
Lezak notes the hard work won't be on the physical end of the spectrum.
"I've told the guys I'm going to push them harder mentally this year than physically, because physically we're prepared.
"The question is, mentally can this team step up to the challenge? Can they make the adjustments?," said Lezak. "Are they willing to make the adjustments and improve on themselves?
"I think we can be a stronger team together, with leadership across the board," he noted. "I think that's one thing that hurt us (last year), we fell apart when we got down in the state playoffs.
"Reflecting back, I should have made a different decision about which way we were starting the game," said Lezak in reference to the gusting winds that day. "It was a poor call on my part ... I'll own it.
"We came out of the half (down 2-0), and when (Strath Haven) scored that third goal you could see the guys just deflated, and then we didn't play together.
"That's the thing our guys have talked about after watching the film on Hudl," added Lezak. "To a man, they said "˜we stopped playing together.' It's good they realized that, it's something we can work with."
Lezak also notes the Wildcats have strengthened their non-league schedule, which will include games against Section IV powers Maine-Endwell, Corning, and Trumansburg.
"I think it's going to be the strongest non-league schedule we've had since I was coach, and probably in the history of the program," he said. "We tried to find team that made the playoffs, have made the playoffs consistently, and have a history of strength in their program.
"We need our non-league games to challenge us," said Lezak. "Knowing everything we bring back, I embrace it. I want teams to come for us. If we lose, it's only going to make us better at the end of the season, and the guys realize that."
Athens opens the 2019 campaign at home Sept. 4 against Wellsboro.
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PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
