Chesterton Boys Soccer’s Midfield: Short on Experience, But Long on Talent

Patrick Mochen
Onwardtrojans.com

Most soccer players play year-round to hone their skills to give themselves the best shot to play varsity soccer. Not only did junior Ethan Virgil not play club soccer the past two years, he didn’t play any soccer. That would leave most athletes little chance of ever playing varsity, but
not Virgil. He returned to the sport this season and is already in the starting lineup as a center defensive midfielder.
Virgil, a basketball player in the winter, took a break from soccer for two years, but decided to come back this season.
“I left soccer because of injuries and conflicts with other sports,” Virgil said. “It became hard to manage everything. I came back because I’ve always liked soccer and remembered how much fun I used to have. I am very lucky for the coaches and teammates that I have. Coach Lucas [Sabedra] gave me a great opportunity and kept on working with me since I hadn’t played in a couple of years. He put a lot of confidence in me and helped me get to where I am.”
Virgil was quick to say that Sabedra isn’t the only one who helped him to knock off the rust.
“[Senior] Nate Kitchel has also made the transition easier. He’s not afraid to tell you what you need to do better and I think that has helped me develop quicker,” Virgil said. “He’s a great communicator and has helped me see the game from a different perspective than I otherwise would’ve.”
Virgil, according to last season’s basketball roster, is 6-foot-2-inches, which not only is a bonus for basketball but for soccer as well.
“He’s a good asset,” sophomore Knox Carney said, "wins a lot of balls in the air. We're not that big of a team, so we need that.”
Added Kitchel: “He’s good at moving the ball around in the middle. He wins the midfield balls and I’m winning the defensive headers, so we’re pretty good together in the air.”
Center defensive midfielder Carney’s ability to play the ball to his teammates is beyond that of the average sophomore. He has a knack for getting the ball to the right guy and in the right spot. “He’s good at making smart passes and has a big personality,” Virgil said. “He’s fun to be around and makes the game easier for me.”
Although Carney’s build is usually smaller than his opponents, he doesn’t shy away from contact, but rather the opposite.
“He’s always running, getting physical, tackling everybody,” senior Zarek Sierazy said, “and he was very aggressive against Valpo, picking up a yellow, but I liked it, ’cause it was tactical. Knox’s yellow was deserved, but if he didn’t take that, Valpo would have gotten a chance on it.”
Carney doesn’t come off the field often.
“He plays the whole game sometimes, nonstop running,” said senior Alex Amaya, who knows better than anyone how hard it can be to play a full game.
Amaya doesn’t get subbed often, even though he has recently been fighting through some injuries.
“It’s been great,” Carney said, “all the older guys giving me that leadership role that I’ve needed to motivate me. Nate Kitchel is always getting on me when I’m slacking. He’s really pushing me. He’s my guy in the back, telling me what to do.”
Sophomore center attacking midfielder David Shumate is another smaller player who received praise from the seniors for his physicality. Just like Virgil, he uses his size to his advantage, but for an altogether different reason. “He’s definitely getting more playing time this year,” Sierazy said, “since we lost Michael (Shumate’s older brother) and a couple other center mids. Him playing middle is good, because refs kind of baby people his size, and will give them more calls, and he knows that and talks about it, how he will get more calls for being small, and he works that to his advantage.”
Amaya added: “He’ll go into any tackle even when the guy is two feet taller than him and bigger. He doesn’t care and that’s what we need on the team.”
Freshman Tyler Hecimovich and junior Cody Baughman have also had a big impact as center attacking midfielders, each scoring three goals. Senior Ray Stringham adds depth at center attacking mid.