Blair High School senior Jake Raymond saw a preseason ranking of Class B boys soccer teams last week, but he didn't see his Bears slotted in anywhere.
“They didn't even list us as honorable mention, so we're trying to get a chip on our shoulder from that,” he said.
Coach Curt Scott's Bears went 4-9 last season and lost eight seniors to graduation. Raymond and Crayton Macholan are back as starters, though, as are seven more letter winners.
Scott expects newcomer Sergio Dominguez and a strong ninth-grade class to contribute, too.
Together, Raymond hopes BHS has what it takes to surprise people, including those compiling preseason rankings.
“I want to win because we haven't done much of it,” he said. “We have a tough schedule, but last year we had the same schedule. I don't know what teams got worse or what teams got better, but I hope we got better.”
Macholan said possession will be important.
“No stupid turnovers,” he explained.
But that's not the only key to the season.
“Score some goals, I guess,” the junior said with a smile.
While Blair needs to find new varsity leaders in the midfield and as strikers, Raymond is confident in his Bears' back line.
“We know we have three solid defenders for sure,” he said.
“With experience back there,” Macholan added, referencing Raymond, Riley Wolff and himself.
“As long as we have those three, I think we can have a solid season,” Raymond concluded.
BHS' first action of the spring is Saturday at Lincoln Northwest, the Eastern Midlands Conference's newest soccer program. That match starts at 1:30 p.m. before the home opener March 20 at 7 p.m.
The Bears play their first game on Krantz Field's new turf against Waverly.
“Hopefully, since we're kind of a fast team, we can get going up and down (the field) more,” Macholan said.
All-in-all, Blair has six regular season home matches and six more on the road — not counting tournaments. Raymond and company hope there's plenty of victories out there to improve on last season's four-win campaign.
