Boys soccer sets sights high

Win the conference, win another state title — and don’t lose a single game along the way.

Those are the season’s goals for the Whitefish boys soccer team.

It’s a tall order, even for a team that finished 2011 by hoisting the Class A state championship trophy on their home field, but Bulldog coach O’Brien Byrd says his club is as strong as ever. With seven returning starters and eight seniors, this season’s roster is stacked with talent, speed and leadership.

“There’s great chemistry with this group,” Byrd said. “Those seniors have played together since they were little. It’s good to have that bond.

“This goal is to win state, of course, but we also don’t want to lose a game this year. We want our mentality to be strong from the first game — to never let down and to maintain focus every game all they way up to the big one.”

Even with those lofty goals, Byrd acknowledges that the season following a state title can be tricky. Other teams will be gunning for Whitefish and overconfidence can always become a factor.

“The season after a state championship is unique,” Byrd said. “Your opponents want to take it to you. They want to write in the papers they just beat the defending champs.

“You also have to battle overconfidence. Right now, there’s no talk of already being state champs. We’re just talking about Stevensville — the first game of the season. We’re keeping them level headed.”

Leading the offensive unit will be Sam Donaldson, the state’s leading scorer in 2011. Byrd says Donaldson has barely scratched the surface of his potential.

“I don’t say that much about our kids, but it’s the truth,” Byrd said. “He’s starting to believe in himself. We’ve seen some stuff this week in practice that I’ve never seen before.”

Curran Edland’s ability to read the field will likely put the senior in position to be a main distributor as a creative center-mid or center-back.

“To have a distributor like that in the back will be great for us,” Byrd said.

Thomas Clark has emerged as the starting goal keeper after splitting the duty last season.

Whitefish will play a style of soccer that emphasizes their speed of play.

“Not through counter attacking,” Byrd said. “I don’t think teams will hold possession against us, but were going to move the ball very quickly. That’s been our focus since the first tryout. Speed of play is the key.”

If there is a crack in Whitefish’s armor it’s their depth. The varsity squad has only 16 members, and three of them are already nursing injuries. Byrd said he may look to the JV team to fill in some holes as the season progresses.

Whitefish opens the season Aug. 25 at Stevensville.