Before Wiregrass Ranch’s boys soccer team began its regular season, they tuned up with a couple of preseason matches.
They won the first one 8-0, and raced out to an early lead in the second one.
If you think that meant their coach was heaping praise upon them, you don’t know the expectations of Wiregrass Ranch soccer.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
“We were up 7-0 after 20 minutes (of the game), and you would have thought we were down 5-0,” recalled coach David Wilson. “If they do make mistakes as a team, they’re going to know about it.”
The Bulls would win that preseason game 8-0, and won their first couple of regular-season matches by shutouts as well.
If their goals are high, it’s because they’ve set a high standard to meet based on previous years.
Last season, the team reached the state semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Chiles, 1-0. In the game, three of their starters hadn’t practiced the previous week due to injury and played at far less than 100 percent, Wilson said. Still, they played a close game and earned some respect from their coach.
“You’ve got to get some breaks along the way, and we didn’t toward the end of the year. With that being said, I thought we played very well there and lost to the state champions,” Wilson said.
Unfortunately, for the rest of their competition (The Bulls moved up to Class 5A this season, and there are a lot of strong teams in district 7), Wiregrass Ranch has most of that team intact for this season. They lost a couple of starters to academy programs (which preclude them from playing at the high school level) and also lost one substitute. But, the rest of the team returns with a goal of getting back to state healthy and ready to play their best.
Wilson acknowledges that the team looks prepared for another big year.
He doesn’t like to put the spotlight on himself as coach.
“I’d like to take some of the credit myself, but most of it is just what we’ve established as a program,” he said.
Wilson’s modesty can’t hide the fact that his fingerprints are all over Wiregrass Ranch’s athletic successes.
As the coach since the soccer program started, he’s built a foundation of discipline and focus that players learn when they enter the system.
He’s also the coach of the boys tennis team, which claimed a co-championship a year ago, then won it outright this past season.
Wilson is also the school’s athletic director, so if anybody deserves credit for the Bulls’ winning ways, it’s him.
And, the players, of course.
Good soccer programs are athletic and deep, and Wilson stresses fitness as a defining trait of his team. He wants players to be able to log consistent minutes, then sub out with little drop-off in talent.
“Fitness-wise, you have to be great. Our outside midfielders and center midfielders have to be able to play both sides of the field,” he said.
Wilson singled out senior Kyle Vandevelde as an outside midfielder who works hard and never gives up on the pitch.
And, while Vandevelde acknowledges that focus on the field is important, he also believes that team bonding off the field is critical.
“You can have the best players on the team, but if they don’t communicate, they don’t have good chemistry and they don’t like each other, it’s not going to matter at the end because they’re not going to be on the same page,” Vandevelde said.
He believes that this year’s team is developing that special chemistry to go along with its superior talent, and the combination will give them an opportunity to go far in the playoffs.
“As long as we have team chemistry, we can go as far as we want,” he said.
Wilson agrees.
He’s been coaching in various capacities for 30 years, and in that time he’s developed a good feel for a team’s potential.
What he’s seen so far makes him optimistic.
“There are surprises, but I know going into the year what we’re going to have. I know how were going to be,” Wilson said. “I think we have a team that’s capable to going back to the state final four.”
Wiregrass Ranch boys soccer remaining schedule
Nov. 12 vs. Land O’ Lakes, 7:45 p.m.
Nov. 17 vs. Palm Harbor University, 6 p.m.
Nov. 19 at Anclote, 7:45 p.m.
Nov. 20 at Hudson, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 30 vs. Citrus, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 1 vs. Jesuit, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 2 vs. Mitchell, 7:45 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Wharton, 6 p.m.
Dec. 8 at Steinbrenner, 8 p.m.
Dec. 11 at Pasco, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 15 at Alonso, 8 p.m.
Jan. 5 at Fivay, 6 p.m.
Jan. 8 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal, 7 p.m. (tournament)
Jan. 9 at Calvary Christian, 2 p.m. (tournament)
Jan. 11 vs. Gulf, 6 p.m.
Jan. 13 vs. Sunlake, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 14 vs. Ridgewood, 6 p.m.
Published November 11, 2015
