Tiger soccer is looking to get back to the postseason in November after falling short in the regional finals to Collegiate.
St. X, which was loaded with seniors last year, is now junior-heavy and is on a tear in the early stages of the season. The Tigers have strong wins over region rivals Ballard and Manual and just came back from a road trip Tuesday. They went up to Covington, beating CovCath 2-1 with goals from juniors Max Fahey and Graham Wheatley.
Senior leadership is a must when a team is full of younger players, and that is exactly what the team is using to propel them over their opponents. The four senior captains are Logan Shulhafer, Reed Newman, Ryan Schulz and Jackson Riggle.
“After experiencing seniors winning state my sophomore year, and then seeing how last year’s seniors reacted when we fell short, I know exactly how I want my last season to end — with another state championship,” Newman said.
Reed Newman is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Max Newman, who was a senior captain two years ago on the state championship-winning team. Reed is now the senior in the same situation to his younger brother, Luke.
“I’m very excited to play with my brother,” Luke Newman said. “I’ve never played with him before, and I’ve been wanting to ever since I saw Reed play with Max.”
With minimal seniority, the juniors overrun the roster sheet. Out of eleven starters, eight are juniors. Luke Petter is one of the few juniors coming from JV and immediately starting varsity.
“It was definitely an adjustment that I had to get used to,” Petter said. He also played for Louisville City FC over the summer — a professional experience.
This past weekend, the Tigers traveled north to Indianapolis to play against tough competition from the region. Friday night they beat Center Grove High School 5-0 for a strong start to the weekend.
Saturday slowed down with two ties, both 2-2. Although they were ties, one felt like a buzzer-beater win with a last-second bicycle goal from junior Tag Haunert.
The rest of the season for the Tigers is much anticipated, especially with the difficulty of the schedule, and they are charging for the state championship.
Sept. 24 is the date everyone is marking on their calendars — the day to beat the Rocks. Other big games on the schedule are Collegiate on Sept. 3 and defending state champion Henry Clay from Lexington on Sept. 30.
