MORGANTOWN – The 2022 University High School boys soccer team was the definition of a team that was “better than its record indicated”, as the Hawks won nine games and lost 11, drawing two as well.
Despite the sub-.500 record, coach Michael Smith’s club outscored their opponents by five goals over 22 games, netting 45 and allowing 40. A solid defensive line and great goalkeeping from returning senior Connor Montgomery helped UHS to be one of the more organized teams in the final third, but a lack of scoring held the true potential of a younger roster back.
The Hawks will return most of their roster from last season and are poised and ready to compete with the state’s best.
“Going into a season, expectations are one thing but you get here and some things change,” Smith said. “I don’t know where the journey of this season will take us but there are a lot of things to be optimistic about and we can’t wait to get everything going.”
Montgomery will serve as one of three captains for UHS. The senior accumulated 126 saves in 22 games last season, averaging six per game.
“I ended up starting as a sophomore after we lost Timmy Bailey who was really good,” he said. “It was somewhat of a trial-by-fire from that season to last year and I’m just trying to keep building on each year and trying to make the best impact I can for my team.”
He will be joined in captaincy by fellow seniors Alex Maldonado and Daniel Kaddar.
“I think there’s a good number of young players with talent on the team this season,” Montgomery said. “We’ve gained a few players as well that have come into the program and I think we have a chance to stay solid throughout the season.”
The three captains say that despite last year’s senior class being small in numbers, they were great with their leadership and keeping the team motivated each and every day.
“The seniors last year may not have had the biggest impact on the stat sheet, but they never got down on themselves or the team,” Kaddar said. “They continued to lead and the chemistry on the team had a lot to do with their influence.”
“Passion and grit can makeup for a lack of skill or technical ability if you work hard enough,” Montgomery added. “That kind of stuff is what trickles down throughout the team and are things that other players can latch onto.”
Smith said the summer has been about finding the combinations amongst the roster that work and adapting to changes that present themselves unexpectedly.
“We’ve had to change things in the past week that we didn’t even thank about to start the summer,” he said. “Everything is different once you get on the field and are across from someone with a different jersey on and I’m interested to see how our guys respond.”
The Hawks will kickoff their 2023 campaign this week as they visit Musselman High School for an away match on Saturday, August 19th. They will then return home for two matches the following week against Weir on Monday Aug. 21, and Parkersburg South on Thursday Aug. 24.
