Boys Soccer: Red Wing returns experienced back line

There’s plenty of work for first-year head coach Brian Quigley as he takes over the Red Wing boys soccer team, but he inherits a team returning a majority of its starters.

Red Wing is coming off a 4-9-2 season last season, where the Wingers tied the school record for wins and only graduated four seniors. Quigley said the team will still be young, but it includes three senior captains in Brian Barlow, Ryan Rehder Alex Rezansoff.

Rehder and Rezansoff, linemates for the majority of their hockey careers, will hold down the midfield again this season. Joining Rehder and Rezansoff in the midfield on the wings will likely by Dylan Goggin and Mike Cordes, Quigley said.

“One of the things we’re looking at mostly is between the center mids is they’ll be switching off on attacking,” Quigley said. “Our center mids are also attacking, at least one of them at a time. They know what they’re doing and they have good ball skills.”

Red Wing graduated most of its scoring in Peter Correll and Andy Gehn and Quigley is searching for ways to become more dangerous on the attack. One of those ways may include adding Angel Fernandez to the forward position. Fernandez played defense primarily last season, but possesses offensive skills that can be utilized on the attack.

Finding offense will be a focus, considering the team got shutout in nine of its 15 games last season. The Wingers scored 22 goals in 15 games, 13 of which came against Lake City in two games.

Quigley will try to push the attack by incorporating outside defenders, pushing them up the field to create more numbers on a rush.

“It’s really important to me to have my players understand they’re not locked into one position,” Quigley said. “I encourage my outside defenders to get into the attack.”

Quigley would like to play a possession-based game, but said the team will have to adapt to opponents in order to find success.

“Ideally that would be fantastic (to play a possession-based game),” Quigley said. “That’s the game plan, but it all depends on how we find ourselves in the first few minutes against another team. We have to be adaptable to every team. We have to make sure we can adapt and play our best against any team.”

Barlow, Rodrigo Fernandez, Aaron Wildenborg and Michael Kennedy will hold down the defense for the Wingers in front of returning goalkeeper Andy Tarr.

With the defense intact and Tarr in goal Red Wing appears in a good position defensively, especially with Tarr back.

“From what I’ve seen in practice, he’s got some talent,” Quigley said of Tarr. “He’s got some stuff figured out. I’m more than happy that I’ve got him for at least two more years. He’s a great player and he’s a great asset for this team.”

Tags: boys soccer, red wing, sports, prep