By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A 15-11 record last fall marked the fourth straight winning season for Kickapoo’s boys soccer program, but the Chiefs’ hopes for a third straight district title ended with a 2-1 loss to Ozark, one of a handful of one-goal losses for Kickapoo in 2023.
“We were in the running for the conference and didn’t win it, but we always like to give ourselves a chance to compete for the conference title,” said head coach Phil Hodge. “We always like to give ourselves a chance to win a district title as well and obviously came up short there, losing in the semifinals. We always play a brutal schedule, so we keep our guys tested game in and game out.”
That tough schedule will look a lot different this fall with the Chiefs moving from the Ozark Conference to the Central Ozark and traveling west for games at schools like Webb City, Carthage and Neosho.
“What we’re looking forward to is getting our bus trips in the middle of the week knocked down a little bit,” Hodge said. “That Rolla trip in the middle of the week gets tough, and the West Plains trip, even Camdenton. We played them for a long time but we’re looking forward to having a little more localized games. We haven’t consistently played Willard at the varsity level so we’re looking forward to a quick little trip to play them. Webb City at the varsity level will be new for us. Neosho we’ve played here and there but not consistently. We used to always go east and now we’re always going to go west for most of our conference games. We’re excited to play somebody a little different, it’s a good little change of pace this season.”
Kickapoo graduated six players from last season who garnered all-conference honors, including first-team defenders Liam Olson and Daeton Sozio; both also made the all-district team, and Olson was named to the all-area and second team all-state teams. He’s gone on to play at Drury, and Sozio is playing at Southwest Baptist. Additionally, midfielder Benny Arbeitman (second team all-conference, honorable mention all-district) took his talents to Drury, and goalkeeper Tucker Phillips, an honorable mention Ozark Conference player, is another key player to replace.
As the Chiefs turn the page to the 2024 campaign, they’ll rely on a few returning contributors to lead the way. That list includes senior forward Troy Skinner, who came on strong with solid minutes in the second half of his junior season; senior midfielder Davis Cowger, an honorable mention all-conference pick “who really understands the game well” and will be asked to control the middle of the field. And sophomore Keegan Bilbao, a second team Ozark Conference and all-district midfielder, returns after playing virtually every minute as a freshman.
“Keegan’s a special player but he doesn’t score a lot of goals, he likes to facilitate and let everybody else do the scoring,” Hodge said. “He shares the ball well, is a great passer and has good vision.”
The Chiefs will also rely on contributions from players like senior Jackson Fischer, a defender who can play multiple positions; senior midfielder Carson Montgomery; senior Nick Jensen, an outside mid; and senior Logan Gibbons, a defender or outside mid. Junior Trevor Smith, the ‘C’ team goalkeeper as a freshman and a center mid on last year’s JV roster, will likely move back to the goal for the varsity this fall. Nathan Clark, another junior, has progressed well over the summer and could earn time at forward. Carter Begley, a sophomore who started as an outside back last year before dealing with an injury, could see quality minutes as a center mid.
“Our numbers aren’t great this year,” Hodge said. “We’ve had three seasons the last six years with a C team and I don’t know we’re going to be able to field a third team this fall. Being a little lower on numbers, the competition is not quite there but we’re going to have to find a way to get some guys in and out with the strength of our schedule. We’re going to have to find guys who will step up and earn some minutes just to relieve some of the guys. We found a couple kids who didn’t play last season and got them to come out this summer and they’ve shown well. Joining the COC, our schedule is tough. There’s not an off game on our schedule so we’ll need everyone to step up. If it’s 35 of them it needs to be all 35 stepping in.”
Kickapoo will host a jamboree on Aug. 27 with Glendale and Nixa joining the Chiefs. The regular season begins Aug. 30-31 with games at Columbia Hickman and Rock Bridge. The Chiefs will play in the Parkview Shootout in September and host the Kickapoo Shootout in October.
