After a surprising and heartbreaking loss in last season’s second round of IHSA Class 3A regionals after going 21-1-2 and being third in the state, the Varsity Boys Soccer team’s desire to win is even greater this year, Coach Jason Fried said.
He also said that “sometimes a loss can be a good thing” and mentioned that it can “humble you a little bit.”
Since Fried became coach nine years ago, the team has been extremely successful. They’ve routinely finished in the top 25 rankings in Illinois. He is also the only OPRF coach who has received Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association (IHSSCA) Coach of the Year, which he won last year.
Fried believes that this year’s team has the same chance to get far in state as last year’s team even though they are in one of the best soccer conferences and lost several great players to graduation.
The small number of returning players, including senior captains Noah Cummings and Josh Kitterman, and senior Nolan Walters and junior Christian Kellogg “know what it takes, so they’re the ones who have to help us set the tone,” said Fried.
New players include junior twins Adrian and Peter Bondartsov, juniors Kingston Peterson and Zach Goldberg, senior Quinn Janssen-Signh, sophomores Johnny Natale, Cole Brinning, Noah Barnett and freshman Liam Moder, who was brought up from JV1 (see “Athlete in Focus,” page 9).
Fried said, “When it comes to tryout time, we break it down to traits we are looking for. We fill in a matrix of different qualities of attacking principles and our defensive principles.”
They also have an experienced goalie. Kellogg took over as goalie last season after the team’s starting goalie got injured.
Kellogg explained that being the goalie is a tough position because “you have such limited time on the ball that you have to perform at the highest percent.”
He has had many terrific plays this season. In a game against Leyden on Sept. 16, he won Man of the Match with a save from a free kick that was retrieved by an opposing player by the net. He is also very good at getting the ball out of the box in perplexing situations.
Kellogg described how being on the team has made him a lot better as a player and person and how the coaches “have held me accountable for everything they know I can be and have really high expectations… and give great instructions.”
Fried said that Kellogg is a leader on the team and is “carrying over our culture.”
Another leader is Kitterman. The senior co-captain plays midfield and said that he reminds his teammates “constantly of our goals and values. ”
You can tell Kitterman is a leader at practice when he reminds players of ways to improve during drills and when he looks out for teammates during games. He is also great at bringing the ball up the field, assisting, finding an open shot and locking up his opponents on defense. In a game against the Huskies’ conference rival the York Dukes on Oct. 4, Kitterman dribbled the ball with great skill, then juked out his defender, found the open spot and shot the ball into the net over the goalkeeper’s head.
“I was super happy. It was one of the best moments of the season so far,” Kitterman said.
He said he has loved playing for OPRF and when asked about Senior Night on Oct 1, he said, “It was kind of sad, and it was all worth playing.”
Both Kitterman and Fried both say that they have a lot of confidence in this year’s team and that if they continue to work hard and stay focused, this could be OPRF’s year.
