The AP/DNH boys soccer team will begin its season Monday by hosting Denver.
The United are beginning their third season as a program, and Head Coach Perry Bernard is optimistic about the potential for growth. After going 2-11 in 2022, the team improved to 10-8 with a playoff win in 2023. Bernard on a deep roster.
“From the first season to the second, we made huge strides,” Bernard says. “They kind of actually exceeded my goals last season. So I had a conversation with them yesterday about what my goals are this season. Obviously going to raise them. Our returning players, some of them that were sophomores last year, now we’ve got a pretty good sized group of juniors. And a lot of them have been working out a lot. They’ve definitely grown. You can see the size difference in them, the speed difference is a lot more from last year too. So I’m pretty excited about this season, definitely. We’ve got a strong core coming in, so a definite raising of expectations from me too.”
Forward/midfielders Walker Weedman, Ty Luhring, Gavin Bernard and Jackson Mulder are back as the goal leaders. Adrian Huisman enters his junior season with two years of varsity goalkeeping under his belt. The team will have nine of last year’s 11 starters back.
Denver went 9-10 last year, and lost about half of their starting lineup to graduation. Ethan Larson and Conner Clinton are back after leading the team in goals scored last year.
Bernard says he has a veteran team that’s likely to have an advantage against many opponents.
“Those teams are growing just like we are. I think we might have an advantage because we really didn’t lose a lot of seniors. We lost two seniors. We’ve gained a lot more than we lost. So I feel like we’ve got a stronger team this season.”
The United swept the season series last year. The game will start at 5:00 p.m.
