As soccer season gets underway, several local teams have legitimate shots at making the postseason and potentially having long playoff runs.
A traditional hotbed for soccer talent, the southern Denton County region typically produces some of the strongest programs in the state each year, and 2024-25 should be no different.
The Guyer boys team went 12-8-1 last season and 8-6 in district competition.
The Wildcats lost in the bi-district round of the playoffs, and coach Nicholas Klitgaard said he is returning 13 of 17 starters from last year’s team.
“Among them is Landon Newman, who broke the school scoring record last season,” Klitgaard said. “Alan Rosales is one of our most dynamic defenders and a fourth year varsity player. Hunter Sauser is also a fourth year varsity player who was our second most goal scorer last season at the wing, and Ben Abreu who is on his second year on varsity but looks like a seasoned veteran midfielder and represents our program to the letter.”
Klitgaard said that for Guyer to have a successful season and to make the playoffs the team will have to stay hungry to compete, take it game by game and focus on what they do every day to reach their goals.
“One of my favorite quotes from the book “Atomic Habits” is ‘You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems,’” Klitgaard said. “We have to make sure our day-to-day actions match who we want to be. If our goal is playoffs, and even the state championship, something we have never been to before, then we have to act and perform like a playoff or state champion team every day.”
Over at Flower Mound, the Jaguars are coming off of a 23-3-3 season where they made it all the way to the state finals before losing in overtime to Katy Seven Lakes.
Coach David Doyle said his team was hit pretty hard by graduation.
“With only three returning varsity players from last year’s roster it will be a rebuilding year,” Doyle said.
Top Jaguar returning players include defenders Oliver Marrujo and Andrew Ritzert, and midfielder Okko Keranen.
Doyle said in order to have a chance at a playoff spot and potentially another playoff run, he will need his younger players to adapt quickly.
“We will have to work very hard and have a lot of new players step up,” Doyle said.
Over in Argyle, Liberty Christian team finished 5-3 in district last season and clinched a playoff berth.
Coach Jorge Anduray said he also has to contend with the issue of youth this season, but said that so far he is seeing some promising signs early on.
“We have a very young overall roster of players who are continuing to improve and gel together,” Anduray said. “We have played well throughout the preseason and feel we can be competitive in district play.”
Strong returning players for the Warriors include Edgar Suarez, Aspen Hang, Jonah Sullivan, Mathew Harrison, Carter Holmes and Kyle Kozminski.
Anduray said to have a successful season, more than anything else it will boil down to one thing.
“In order to make the playoffs, we will need to stay healthy and free of injuries,” Anduray said.
Down the road in Argyle, first-year coach Chance Rose said that things are shaping up well for the coming season.
“I am really pleased with the overall effort this summer and fall from the players,” Rose said. “They are committed to improving on last year’s disappointing season and there is genuine belief that we can win a district championship.
The Eagles went 5-14-2 overall last season and finished 3-10-1 in district competition.
Argyle has a core of strong returning players, including Austin Roberts, Kayden Ayala, Michael Oduwole, Will Troseth, and Beckham Burns.
To make the postseason and potentially have a good run in the playoffs, Rose said it will two things—discipline and belief.
“We have to get back to the Argyle way of executing our play at a high level for 80 minutes,” Rose said. “Furthermore, believing in our qualities as a team and our abilities individually to maintain that high level of play for an extended period of time.”
Over in Justin, the Northwest Texans finished 12-6-6 overall last season and were area finalists.
Coach Isaac Linnabary said based on what he has seen so far this season, he is optimistic about Northwest’s chances.
“We feel good going into the season,” Linnabary said. “Scrimmages showed us some strengths and weaknesses of our team and what we need to address in practice. If we can fix some things as we go into tournaments and be ready for district, we have the potential to really turn some heads our first year in 6A.”
The Texans have a strong senior class returning led by Grayson Bowler and Ryan Schellenberg in the midfield.
Then the back line has three returning seniors with Chris Ceresoli, Jaden Torres, and Ryan Shawaluk.
“They will be the anchor for this team for sure,” Linnabary said.
Northwest finished 8-2 in district last season, and to have another strong year, Linnabary said it will take a couple of things.
“We’ll need to be competitive in our district games and pull some upsets along the way,” Linnabary said. “Moving up a classification is always tough, but going straight into this district would be tough for anybody. I believe we have the talent to be competitive and will find ourselves in some situations to steal some points that people may think we may not be able to get.
“We just need to remember it’s going to be a long season and to not get too high or too low based on results game after game.”
Across town at Marcus, the Marauders under Coach Sam Garza finished fourth in district 6-6A competition last year and qualified for the postseason.
Marcus lost in the bi-district round to Allen after going 13-7-1 on the season with a 7-6-1 mark in district competition.
Players to watch for Marcus this year include Brodie Colvin, Vincent Robles, Mason Einspahr, and Matthew Castro.
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