QUINCY \u2014 Leave the past behind you.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an adage seemingly as old as time, but it\u2019s as relevant today as it has ever been. Just ask the Quincy High School boys soccer players.<\/p>\n
Coming off a 3-16-2 campaign that matches the fewest victories in a single season in program history, the Blue Devils haven\u2019t forgotten what took place, but they refuse to dwell on it. It\u2019s motivation now, sort of like a launching point to a new trajectory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look back on what we could have done better, but we have to focus on this year,\u201d said senior forward Trace Routh, a returning first-team All-Western Big 6 Conference selection. \u201cWe have to turn it into a positive this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
They do that by turning the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to look ahead and don\u2019t look in the past,\u201d said senior defender Bennett Soltwedel, an honorable mention All-WB6 selection last season. \u201cWe have a new team. We have a new starting lineup. Just look to the future. Don\u2019t think about the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
The future begins with a positive approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve wanted to promote a positive and competitive training environment, and I think the camaraderie piece is huge when you talk about positivity,\u201d said QHS coach Ron Bridal, entering his ninth season at the helm. \u201cA positive and competitive environment is going to allow us to be successful this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Better camaraderie is where it begins.<\/p>\n
The Blue Devils return a solid corps of leaders with an injection of spirit from the return of senior forward Kade Parkhill. Sidelined last fall after undergoing shoulder surgery, Parkhill spent the fall on the sideline as both an ardent supporter and a voice of inspiration.<\/p>\n
That voice grows louder now that he\u2019s back on the field and healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, we have to get the team chemistry right,\u201d said Parkhill, an honorable mention All-WB6 baseball player last spring. \u201cEven though I wasn\u2019t out there last fall, I could tell it was a little iffy. It was a lot of players\u2019 first year being out there. We have quite a few returning players. We\u2019ve all grown up playing together. The camaraderie is building.\u201d<\/p>\n
A better connection should lead to better creativity and more opportunities to score.<\/p>\n
Offensively, the Blue Devils need a boost.<\/p>\n
Limited to 23 goals as a team last fall, they understand the need to produce more. Quincy was shut out nine times last season and limited to one goal eight other times. It\u2019s made finishing a key point of emphasis this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s two pieces,\u201d Bridal said. \u201cOne is the physical piece of just being able to finish and put the ball in the goal. The second is the mental game and the psychology of it. Talking with a couple of the guys about it, it really comes down to confidence. As confidence builds and kids are in front of the net more and more and more, we\u2019ll see more finishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ongoing conversations about scoring are helping.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve stopped in the middle of our scrimmages and talked about how we could have gotten a better finish,\u201d Routh said. \u201cWe analyze it to make sure we\u2019re getting the best opportunities to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should someone struggle to finish, the conversation is supportive, not condemning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like how we\u2019re able to talk to each other and talk through our differences without getting a bunch of emotion built up,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cI think we work together well.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re competing with each other, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a spot where we have more than four kids competing for four starting spots defensively,\u201d said Bridal, whose team opens its season August 28 at Springfield Southeast. \u201cWe have more than one kid fighting for the goalkeeper spot. We have more than three kids fighting for midfield spots. That\u2019s the same at forward. I think that competition at every position is going to help us in back and in our attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
The memories from a year ago will as well, even if they simply stay in the back of everyone\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was clear from day one they were ready to get going and were motivated,\u201d Bridal said. \u201cTheir competitiveness and their fire is there. We try not to talk about (last year\u2019s record) because it\u2019s in the past and we want to focus on the future. But sometimes it is a motivating thing. And you can tell, these kids are motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Extremely motivated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have what it takes to improve a lot,\u201d Soltwedel said. \u201cLast year is going to push us to be better than what we\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"QUINCY \u2014 Leave the past behind you. It\u2019s an adage seemingly as old as time, but it\u2019s as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[48392,49,48,48393,561,82,48394],"class_list":{"0":"post-80029","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-bennett-soltwedel","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-kade-parkhill","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-trace-routh"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}