Garcia provides leadership for Falcons

Source: The Star

ALLISON LONG | Staff

Olathe South’s Andrew Garcia (left) and Blue Valley Northwest’s Blake Kaufman jump high to hit a ball during a boys soccer game Wednesday.

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En route to the Kansas 6A state championship last fall, Olathe South’s boys soccer team didn’t allow a single goal in the playoffs.

The Falcons posted five straight shutouts, which makes it pretty difficult to lose. Never getting scored on, after all, is the only surefire winning formula in sports.

But South, which has won four of six games in the 2009 season, can’t rely on defense like it could last year. Or at least the Falcons can’t rely on those same defenders.

Only senior center back Andrew Garcia returned from last year’s back line.

Junior Trevor Pentola, who stepped in when senior Alex Smith was injured, moved back to the midfield, while goalkeeper Tanner Fox and defenders Nate Byarlay and Jacob Wayland graduated.

To say the least, that places quite a burden on Garcia.

“At the start of the year and I don’t know how much pressure he felt, but it was definitely a point of concern for the coaching staff,” Falcons coach Will Stoskopf said. “We weren’t sure how (the defense) was going to shape up.”

All South’s coaches knew was that Garcia would have to take charge.

“Last year, he didn’t necessarily say it directly to me, but he gave hints, reminding the team I was the only returning defender,” Garcia said.

The rest of the defense ended up being an untested junior goalkeeper who was coming off a broken foot and a workout-less summer in Tyler Fish, a converted forward in junior Brett Robertson, a JV call up in junior Daniel Clifton and a wet-behind-the-ears freshman in Kyle Vassar.

They all were looking to Garcia.

“He’s a three-year starter on varsity, and I think the other guys see that and respect that,” Stoskopf said. “They see how hard he plays and he’s been a huge force for us.”

Garcia, who moved from left back to center back, has instilled the quiet confidence he exudes with his play to the rest of the Falcons’ defenders.

“He’s so positive about everything,” Fish said. “Whenever there’s a foul, he helps calm people down and always helps the defense get settled in. He’s been a great support for me, and he’s basically a brick wall back there.”

“Knowing you have Drew back there and that he’s such a great defender gives you lots of confidence,” said Clifton, who also has emerged as a seemingly omnipresent center back. “He’s very stern and confident in his abilities. He’s always there to stop stuff that gets through, but he’s calm too. He’s loud only when he needs to be.”

Garcia’s low-key personality and leadership style has made him a stabilizing force.

“There’s a lot of pressure on you already as a defender, so the fact that he can lead and do it in a respectful way probably helps the other guys back there with him,” Stoskopf said.

The Falcons opened the season with a 6-0 shutout against Olathe North, but promptly allowed eight goals in the next four games, including losses to Olathe East and St. Thomas Aquinas.

That’s when Garcia issued a challenge before South faced Blue Valley Northwest on Wednesday.

“The last two games, we’d been scored on six times,” Garcia said. “As a whole team, not just the defense, we needed to lock it down.”

The response was a 2-1 win against the Huskies.

“It just took a couple games to get together and get some chemistry, but I feel like it’s coming together,” Garcia said.

It remains to be seen, of course, if the Falcons can become as dominant defensively as last year.

“If our whole starting 11, not just the back four but everyone starts defending like we want, putting some pressure on the other team, we can get there and be as good as last year,” Garcia said.

- 2009-09-18 18:19:02