Highland boys soccer scores big this season

by Dan Holland

Highland High School Varsity Boys Soccer head coach Chris Schaefer said it’s all about continuing to build upon the winning seasons he has overseen since stepping up from head coach for the junior varsity team three years ago.

The team, which finished second in the Suburban League American Conference, had an overall record of 12-4-3 and 5-1-1 in conference play. They had a 3-0 playoff victory against St. Vincent-St. Mary on Oct. 16, followed by a 4-0 loss to Canfield in an Oct. 24 playoff matchup.

Building a winning culture has been an important aspect of coaching for Schaefer.

“For the last three years, we have spent a very large portion of our time to not only train the kids to play the game, but also to work on culture and being good people,” said Schaefer. “I think the culture has really developed strong roots in our program; you see it in the kids and their willingness to fight for every blade of grass on the field for each other.”

The team began the season with an 8-0 win streak.

“All eight games were exceptionally close; within a goal or two,” said Schaefer. “Then we ran into the heavy part of our schedule where we faced a lot of very talented teams; Walsh Jesuit, who made it to the regional finals last year, and also Revere, who was in the state finals last year and had 19 seniors return.”

“We faced both schools in the same week, which was a tough week for us,” he continued. “We were tied with Revere with 1:30 left in the game, and we got a corner kick, which we had scored on earlier. So, we decided to go for the win, and we packed the box but didn’t score. They countered us, and slipped one in with 45 seconds left, and beat us. It was a tough loss, but in hindsight, you don’t play to tie; you play to win.”

The team saw 10 wins during Schaefer’s first year at the helm and 12 wins last year.

“This year, facing a much-tougher schedule, we still ended up winning 12 games again,” said Schaefer. “Once you start to show that you’re a higher-level team, the teams at a lower talent level don’t want to play you anymore, so you get matched up with the tougher teams going forward. But we were able to maintain the same record with a much tougher schedule this year.”

Out of 53 schools in the Greater Akron Division III pool, Highland ranked ninth going into the season.

Schaefer noted seniors Max Gargano, Devon Kolda and Alex Hedden as all having very productive seasons while leading the team.

“The defenders and goalkeepers in the back were both seniors as well,” he noted. “We rotated a goalkeeper this year – at half and half – because they were both exceptional, and we wanted to make sure they both got playing time in their senior season.”

Although the team will be losing a lot of talent with graduating seniors, Schaefer is confident that the younger players will step up next year.

“Our freshman class was an exceptional surprise for us this year,” said Schaefer. “We had five of them this year that ended up playing on the varsity roster as freshmen. So, our future with the younger guys coming up looks really bright; that married together with our sophomores and juniors, who were exceptional this year as well. I’m looking ahead to that to continue our winning culture.” ∞