Ohio City – Saint Ignatius’ state and nationally acclaimed soccer program enters the 2013 season with just five seniors.
Don’t be fooled by that number.
Those five seniors, led by captains Colin Cleary and Matt Ivancic, helped produce a special chemistry in the offseason, one of the strongest bonds in Coach Mike McLaughlin’s storied career. Coach McLaughlin ’85 enters his 19th season as his alma mater’s head soccer coach with a career record of 302-40-36, including five OHSAA big-school state championships.
That chemistry, combined with a talent-laden group of underclassmen whose youth will be served this fall, are the major factors in the Wildcats being ranked seventh nationally in the preseason and once again labeled as the team to beat in
Northeast Ohio, if not the entire state.
“Yeah, it is really different from the past years, when we had anywhere from eight to 12 seniors on the team,” said Matt Ivancic, who is following in the footsteps of his brother Ryan ’11, a standout captain and player on Saint Ignatius’
Division I state championship team of 2010.
“But we really have a unique group this year,” Matt continued. “The juniors are all very talented. That’s pretty much all of our starting lineup, three seniors and the rest all juniors and a couple of sophomores. It’s a unique group and it is
going to be a lot of fun.”
Cleary, who this corner had the pleasure to interview after his solid effort at Strongsville last fall, emphasized that the major role he and Matt carry to the field this season is setting a good example for all of the young kids.
“To keep leading and be positive all of the time,” Colin said.
“I think attacking wise, we’re going to be really strong,” Colin continued, who added that the shape of the defense in 2013 will be a key in the Wildcats’ maintaining their national ranking.
In concurring with his fellow captain, Ivancic used the word “energy” and referred to how this year’s emotions are fueled by one of the toughest losses in the program’s history – a 2-1 overtime shootout setback at St. Edward in last season’s district finals. The loss snapped Saint Ignatius’ 35-game unbeaten streak and left the Wildcats referring to their 15-1-3 finish as an extremely disappointing year.
While that final record would have most programs in Ohio jumping with joy, Saint Ignatius has established a standard of excellence on the soccer field.
“It’s bad that it happened, but it is also good that we can look back on it and really pick out what we need to improve on,” Ivancic said of the loss on the Eagles’ Coughlin Field. “Our energy level is outrageous, it’s great. And that is what is really going to propel us through the season.”
Ivancic and Cleary also pointed out that Coach McLaughlin has adopted a new “attacking” system this year, one in which the Wildcats will be playing with more of an offensive mindset.
“It’s a young team, so not a lot of us have played together before,” said Cleary. “But we have great team chemistry, on and off the field. All of our games are going to be challenging, so that will just make us better.”
In what has to be the most demanding schedule in the program’s history, Saint Ignatius, in pursuit of a record sixth OHSAA Division I state championship, opens its 2013 slate at Solon on Saturday night and then takes on the always
strong and soccer savvy Strongsville Mustangs on Tuesday night at Wasmer Field. The word out on Inwood Road in Solon is that this could be the Comets’ strongest boys soccer team in the school’s history.
After Tuesday’s home opener with Strongsville, the Wildcats will gear up for the annual Ohio Jesuit Cup Tournament, which will be played at Cincinnati St. Xavier on August 24 and 25. The traditional regular-season match up with St. Edward will take place on September 17 at Wasmer Field and Coach McLaughlin’s team will also be facing perennial Ohio powers Massillon Jackson, Gahanna Lincoln and defending state champion Olentangy Liberty.
On the national scene, Saint Ignatius will host Missouri power Rock Bridge High School on Friday, September 13 and will travel to Washington, DC on October 4 and 5 to take on nationally ranked Gonzaga High School, as well as always tough Georgetown Prep. For a complete look at the 2013 schedule, go to ignatius.edu, click on athletics and click on soccer.
Along with the leadership and game skills Ivancic and Cleary bring to the table, Coach McLaughlin and his staff will turn to two, yes two, of the most talented goalies Ohio has to offer – juniors Mikal Outcalt and Clark Gronek. Mikal and Clark
combined for 11 shutouts last season.
Also expected to contribute significantly are seniors Cole Brownsberger, Patrick Meidenbauer and Chris Pietrow, juniors David Sisson, Joe Mack Leonardo and Bobby Barsic, and sophomores Hunter Gordon, Lawrence Karpeh and Hayden Parente.
“We have to sort our backline, we have some young boys back there,” said Coach McLaughlin, who emphasized that although this is a very talented and athletic Saint Ignatius team, the players without postseason experience will have to mature in their role of learning how to put games away.
Coach McLaughlin said Outcalt and Gronek are as sharp as ever and now “it is our job to sort out defensively what we’re going to do.
“Our approach this year defensively is that there are no longer going to be just four defenders,” Coach McLaughlin continued. “The moment we lose the ball, everybody is immediately going to transfer into a defensive mode. We will fight
hard to win the ball back everywhere on the field.
“You can work all day in practice and have your plan, but it’s the season that begins to tell the story,” said Coach McLaughlin. “Once you get into the games, you see what your strengths and weaknesses are.”
Coach McLaughlin, a man you totally believe when he looks you in the eye and tells you how excited he is about 2013, couldn’t say enough about the camaraderie his team developed during a recent Whitewater Rafting trip to West Virginia, a trip in which the Wildcats went over their philosophy as a program.
“Everybody is on board and ready to do something special,” said one of the premier soccer coaches in America.
TEN AND COUNTING: Coach McLaughlin’s program will be seeking its 11th consecutive Team Academic All-American award.
COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT THEM: Coach McLaughlin welcomes back his outstanding staff of Varsity Quality Control Coach Joe Popelka ’84, who has been coaching for 23 seasons; Tara Henderson (7th season) and Paul Kobe '79 (6th season) as freshman coaches; Jim Brennan ’85 (21 total seasons and 18th year as junior varsity head coach with a record of 213-23-22) and Dan Crew '99 (6th season as varsity assistant). Note: Darren Keefe '87, a former varsity head coach at University School before coming back to Saint Ignatius to teach Latin/Greek, is also helping out in the program.
502 AND COUNTING: This is the 38th season for Wildcat Soccer and the program sits at 502-122-79.
See you at Solon on Saturday night. The junior varsity game is scheduled for 5 PM, with the varsity to follow at 7.