WHITEHALL — Whitehall plans to be a lot better at the end of this season than its beginning, and with so many young players dotting the roster, the Vikings will likely have to be to make a run at a district. Wednesday saw a young team still getting used to the speed of varsity soccer, and the Vikings dropped their opener to Black River, 5-1.
The lone Whitehall goal came from the team's only four-year senior player, Carter Burrous. Burrous fired a shot in the box that appeared to glance off a River Rat defender but still sailed into the net, tying the score around the halfway point of the first half.
However, from there, Black River exerted its experience advantage and cashed in on plenty of its scoring opportunities to repeat its season-opening win over the Vikings from a year ago.
"We didn't have enough shots on goal," Whitehall coach Dillon McCarthy said. "I think we were also a little panicky and a little frantic at times, but that comes with comfort and reps. We've got 16 or 17 more games to look forward to, and each game we'll get a little bit better."
Burrous is one of just three seniors on the entire roster, along with Chandler Culp and Corey Holmes. McCarthy noted that last year, there were four four-year senior players, so Burrous has to take on more leadership duties than any individual player had to a year ago.
"He has to deal with incoming freshmen that have never played varsity and that are really quality young players but aren't 17-18 year old men," McCarthy said. "(Plus,) we have an incoming junior class that has never had varsity experience, and then to be kind of a sole senior who has that four-year varsity experience, (It's a challenge)."
Ryan Bowen (2) defends for Whitehall against a Black River foe during Wednesday's game.
Jake Levering scored three first-half goals for the visiting River Rats to give his team a 3-1 halftime edge. The last of them saw Levering manage to outmuscle three different Viking defenders to come up with a loose ball and then connect on his shot.
Whitehall kept Black River out of the goal for the first 20 minutes of the first half and created a couple of decent chances itself, but couldn't connect on them. The best opportunity. came when Juan Alonso found himself by himself with the ball in the box, but in the second or two it took for him to wind up and fire a shot, the River Rat defense managed to get in position to deflect the shot.
McCarthy did not seem surprised that his team seemed a split second late making decisions at times. It all comes with the territory of adjusting to this level of play.
"I think I had three kids on the field that started last year for me," McCarthy said. "A lot of new players and new positions. It's an adjustment period. The boys are working hard. They're stepping up. We'll show that growth. We're hoping for it."
Junior Ethan Sylvester, who has taken over as the keeper this season, made several solid saves. He's one of a good number of juniors on the team, albeit without varsity playing experience. There's also a cohort of several sophomores, including one who was elected a captain - Raymond Hesse. Unfortunately for Whitehall, Hesse is in a walking boot after suffering an injury playing basketball, and he'll be out most of the season.
"He's still a captain for a reason," McCarthy said. "He gave his speech and it was a democratic vote, and (he was one of) our three captains, elected because of who he is on and off the field. I'm super excited for him to come back and join."
