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CARTHAGE, Mo. —
Although the Tigers have captured successive district championships, second-year Carthage High School boys soccer coach Jacob Osborne expressed cautious optimism about the upcoming season.
Despite eight starters returning from last year’s impressive 17-6 season, the atmosphere around the practice field for the Tigers has changed. Not only did the Tigers lose seven talented players to graduation, the power of the Central Ozark Conference appears to strengthening.
“Our schedule this year is significantly more difficult than years past,” Osborne said. “We were able to pick up Glendale, which is traditionally one of the top two or three teams in our region. We have also added a tournament at Kickapoo that features many of the top teams from the area along with some teams from Kansas City and St. Louis.”
The Tigers captured first place in the Christian County Shootout and Joplin Invitational last season, before successfully defending their Class 3 District 12 title with a thrilling 1-0 victory over rival Joplin.
But Carthage, for the second straight year, came up short in the sectional round of the MSHSAA playoffs, this time losing 1-0 to Kickapoo. Now, it’s up to returning starting seniors Joe Curti and Mark Navarette, among others, to help lead the Tigers through the always-tough COC, where they finished third a year ago.
“I was disappointed in finishing third in the COC,” Osborne admitted, “so that's one of our team's goals for the upcoming year. Our biggest goal is the same as it is every season: To win districts.”
Curti, a first-team all-conference and all-district selection last season, returns as Carthage’s leading scorer. A four-year starter, he was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year last season and is the program’s all-time assists leader.
“He was a huge part of our offense last year. His role will be the same this season,” Osborne said. “He will be responsible for scoring and setting up goals. He's grown a lot as a leader and his leadership will be valuable for us.”
Navarette, a “very steady, smart player,” returns as Carthage’s center midfielder after earning second-team all-conference and all-district honors last season.
“He does a great job of controlling the pace of games,” Osborne said. “He has excellent vision and he does a great job of orchestrating our passing game.”
Cesar Aguirre, Lundin Gonzales and Victor Lopez are the other returning starters. Lopez, by the way, began the year as a junior varsity player before proving himself at the varsity level.
Although the Tigers have captured successive district championships, second-year Carthage High School boys soccer coach Jacob Osborne expressed cautious optimism about the upcoming season.
Despite eight starters returning from last year’s impressive 17-6 season, the atmosphere around the practice field for the Tigers has changed. Not only did the Tigers lose seven talented players to graduation, the power of the Central Ozark Conference appears to strengthening.
“Our schedule this year is significantly more difficult than years past,” Osborne said. “We were able to pick up Glendale, which is traditionally one of the top two or three teams in our region. We have also added a tournament at Kickapoo that features many of the top teams from the area along with some teams from Kansas City and St. Louis.”
The Tigers captured first place in the Christian County Shootout and Joplin Invitational last season, before successfully defending their Class 3 District 12 title with a thrilling 1-0 victory over rival Joplin.
But Carthage, for the second straight year, came up short in the sectional round of the MSHSAA playoffs, this time losing 1-0 to Kickapoo. Now, it’s up to returning starting seniors Joe Curti and Mark Navarette, among others, to help lead the Tigers through the always-tough COC, where they finished third a year ago.
“I was disappointed in finishing third in the COC,” Osborne admitted, “so that's one of our team's goals for the upcoming year. Our biggest goal is the same as it is every season: To win districts.”
Curti, a first-team all-conference and all-district selection last season, returns as Carthage’s leading scorer. A four-year starter, he was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year last season and is the program’s all-time assists leader.
“He was a huge part of our offense last year. His role will be the same this season,” Osborne said. “He will be responsible for scoring and setting up goals. He's grown a lot as a leader and his leadership will be valuable for us.”
Navarette, a “very steady, smart player,” returns as Carthage’s center midfielder after earning second-team all-conference and all-district honors last season.
“He does a great job of controlling the pace of games,” Osborne said. “He has excellent vision and he does a great job of orchestrating our passing game.”
Cesar Aguirre, Lundin Gonzales and Victor Lopez are the other returning starters. Lopez, by the way, began the year as a junior varsity player before proving himself at the varsity level.
“Victor generally steps up and plays well in big games. He's a tremendously skilled player with great vision and passing ability,” Osborne said. “He links up with other players and does a great job of working combinations with other players. He will likely start at center mid.
“I have high hopes for the upcoming season,” Osborne continued. “I believe that we our team has potential to be very strong if we can gel quickly. We need some players to step up both offensively and defensively. I believe we have the players to do that, but we'll just have to wait and see.”
To reach Cody Dyer, call 417-358-2191 or send email to cdyer@carthagepress.com
