SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber doesn’t appear to shy away from high expectations on the 2011 boys soccer field this season. Instead, the Wildcats embrace their lofty goals with open arms.
“We expect a lot this year,” Har-Ber boys coach Paul Crouch said. “We’re coming off our best two seasons in school history when we’ve made it to the state tournament, but this year we’ve got more experience and more depth. There’s 20 guys out there on varsity that we feel are ready to play at any time.
“So for us, we defi nitely expect to do well this year, and we think we can make it farther in the state tournament this season.”
Har-Ber finished 10-8-1 overall in 2010 and managed a fi fth-place finish in the 7A-West Conference. But with seven full-time starters back from a year ago and a new flood of young talent coming in, the Wildcats see no reason why they shouldn’t move up to the top of the league ladder this spring.
Senior midfielder Jose Gonzalez, one of the seven starters back this season, even believes no goal should be considered unattainable for the Wildcats.
“We’ve got a couple of new players that will really help us this year and a lot of guys coming back from last year,” Gonzalez said. “So we definitely want to make it to the state tournament and even get to the finals, and I’m pretty sure we can do it. There’s no reason this year why we can’t do that.”
Gonzalez will be joined in the midfield by returning starters Geo Alfaro and Jose Tobar, both seniors. Jorge Gonzalez — the 2010 NWA Media Newcomer of the Year — also returns at forward, while seniors Wilmer Mendez and Ken Wada are back at defender.
Har-Ber also returns junior goalkeeper Matt Kellogg, giving the Wildcats plenty of experience all over the fi eld.
“We’re going to be the strongest in the midfield, I think,” Crouch said. “We’ve got some really good forwards and we should be able to score.”
The Wildcats open the varsity season March 4 at the Northwest Arkansas Tournament.