Panther soccer starts uphill climb

Great Bend boys soccer coach Chuy Loera (52-84-4) starts his ninth season after a 2-13-1 (0-8 WAC) record. Loera is assisted by Noel Rodriguez and Also Rodriguez.

Key starters returning include goalie Eli Contreras, forward Alex Alonzo and midfielder Alex Alcala.

“We’re ahead of where we were last year. We evaluate ourselves after every season,” Loera said. “We’ve tried different approaches. We want to see what we can do to compete with the Western Athletic teams.”

The Panthers are working on improving technique on ball control and passing to compete.

“We’re working on skill development, technique and the details of soccer,” he said. “We’re trying to keep building our program. We work on a better understanding of what we’re doing.”

Loera said a new group of players will present strong competition.

“We have new faces, which is a good thing. We’re looking at the new players to find out what roles they’ll play.”

The off-season work helped the players improve.

“We’re allowed summer workouts,” he said. “The guys train with club teams and they compete in summer tournaments. They got good competition and training.”

PANTHER ROSTER

0—Eli Contreras, GK, 11

1—Julian Ordonez, DEF, 10

2—Ernan Rodriguez, F, 12

3—Dustin Fugitt, F, 10

4—Sergio Gonzalez, F, 9

5—Manuel Tavarez, F, 12

6—Alex Alcala, F, 11

7—Joel Alcala, MID, 12

8—Ryan Rossouw, F, 12

9—Diego Soto, DEF, 11

10—Ricardo Cruz, MID, 10

11—Alex Alonzo, F, 11

12—Diego Pasos, MID, 12

13—Alan Carrillo, MID, 10

14—Jackson Young, DEF, 10

15—Landon Hubbard, DEF, 11

17—Angel Armendariz, MID, 11

19—Victor Reyes, F, 12

21—Luis Gonzalez, F, 12

22—Fabian Guerrero, DEF, 11

32—Manuel Tavarez, F, 12 

JUNIOR VARSITY

0—Adam Trendel, GK, 11

3—Alexis Garcia, 9

4—Gavin Vanskike, 10

5—Jose Castillo, 10

6—Bairo Guzman, 9

7—Omar James, MID, 10

8—Erick Torres, 9

9—Fernando Lopez, 9

10—Gael Gonzalez, 9

11—Juan Soto, 9

16—Francisco Alvarez, 9

19—Lukas Oden, 9

21—Omar Prado, 9

23—Xavier Rios, 9

25—Juan DeLuna, 9

BOYS SOCCER

8-31—*at Liberal

9-4-9—at Wichita South Tournament

9-12—*Hays High

9-14—at Maize South

9-16—Wichita Trinity

9-19—*at Hays High

9-21—*at Dodge City

9-26—*Garden City

10-3—at Wichita Life

10-5—*at Garden City

10-10—*Dodge City

10-12—Junction City

10-17—*at Liberal

10-9—McPherson

10-23/26—at 5A regional