By Chris Parker
Aurora boys soccer has a new head coach in Jared Cantrell this year. Cantrell played for Aurora from 1999-2003.
He inherits a young team with no seniors on the roster.
“I haven’t had the ability to evaluate our team fully, but I am looking forward to seeing how a few players handle the pressures of competition,” Cantrell said. “One interesting note is that there are no seniors on our roster so our starters will be mostly juniors and sophomores.”
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Juniors Larson Briggs and Kristopher Bradbury will be looked to for contributions in the attacking third of the field.
Past those two, there is competition for spots all over the field.
“We have some very athletic players on our team. We hope to refine their skills and spread the field to create space and get our attackers in one on one situations,” Cantrell said. “Our athleticism can be a curse, too. From what I saw at our camps this summer, we wanted to play the ball over the top too often and get in a foot race with defenders. We need to learn to slow the game down at times if we want to prevent fatigue later in the season.”
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Aurora opens the season Aug. 31-Sept. 4 at the Cassville Classic.
“I actually have high expectations. Last season we finished with a regular season record of 7-8. I believe we have the talent to have a winning record this season. I also believe we can get a win in the district tournament this season. The goal is to prepare our juniors this season to make a run at the district championship for the senior year,” Cantrell said. “I’m ready for the season to start and hope to make this team one of the most successful in school history.”
