Kokomo — It’s hard to top the season Western’s boys soccer team had last season. The Panthers went undefeated in the regular season, captured their first sectional title, won their regional opener and then fell in a penalty shootout in the regional final.

Now though, that 17-1-2 record is history. It’s a great memory for the players involved, but a new proving ground awaits in 2010.

“Everybody wants to continue that type of success,” Western coach Mike Roe said. “But it’s a new season and what happens this year is what happens this year. I feel like we’ve put last year in the past and nobody’s looking at last year as some type of comparison.”

Instead the comparison comes from how the local teams push each other in the here and now.

“The teams around here seem to be getting better and better,” Roe said. “That’s good for soccer all the way around. That’s going to make us better and hopefully help us all get further in our respective sectionals and regional areas. The better our local teams get, the better chances our local teams have of being successful.”

With that in mind, here are previews of the Howard County boys soccer squads, leading with defending Mid-Indiana Conference champion Western.

Western

Time flies when you’re having fun. Last season flew by for the Panthers. They are looking for more of the same.

“I expect them to have fun,” Roe said. “They key to our season last year was we were going to go out and have fun and enjoy ourselves and let the chips fall where they fall. That’s what we’re going to do this year.”

Roe explained he wants his squad to work on playing well, for example holding possession like it did last season, but that the main thing is to “have fun and enjoy our time together, because it’s a really short season.”

It is when you’re winning, and the Panthers have plenty of players back who developed a taste for success in 2009.

“We’re deeper, I feel like, than we’ve ever been,” Roe said. “We have a very balanced team. That’s something that kind of snuck up on us. In years past, we’ve had very shallow benches. I think last year was really the deepest bench we’ve ever had in terms of players’ skill and ability in comparison to the starters.”

Western graduated three of four starting defenders last season, yet Roe is confident the defense will be one of the squad’s best assets again this time.

Former goalie Drew Brantley takes up a defensive spot as a senior, though he may also rotate to forward. Also in the back are seniors Zach Armour and John Reeder, and juniors Cory McCracken (a starter last season) and Josh Carter.

Junior Kyle Ennis, freshman Edgar Sanchez and junior Josh Mauer may see time in goal. Mauer, an all-arounder, can also play in defense or at forward.

Senior Nate Keyton (12 assists) attacks from central midfield with classmates Clay O’Neal and Jared Householder, and junior Neil Johnson also in the midfield. Junior Landon Eaton is at forward after netting 24 goals last year. O’Neal will also see time up front. He and Keyton each bagged 11 goals last year.

Roe has confidence in his wards, but doesn’t have a finished package yet. He expects better as the season continues.

“We’ve definitely got to increase our speed of play,” he said. “That’s something we noticed last year especially when we got to regional finals. We tended to play a slower pace than some of the teams we were playing against. It worked in our favor, but it also came back to haunt us. You can’t lull every team to sleep by maintaining possession.”

Western opens its season on Tuesday at Twin Lakes.

Eastern

Second-year coach John Van Matre expects the Comets to take a step forward now that they’re familiar with his style and expectations. Eastern was 4-12-1 last season but already looks poised for better returns.

“There’s a lot more team cohesiveness, a lot more of them buying into my system of play,” Van Matre said. “Even this summer, as two-a-days go along, I’ve seen a definite change. You start getting a little excitement when you see them playing the style of soccer you want them to play.

“I think playing as a team is the key, getting to where you’re comfortable with your teammates and you know what you expect out of them and what they expect out of you. Soccer’s all about team chemistry.”

A group of six seniors form the core: left forward Wes Horner; midfielder/defender David Manfred; defenders Jake Beasley and Jerry Flick; central forward/midfielder Sean Ryan; and Dakota Barton, who is moving to the defense this season. Van Matre also raved about junior goalie Bryce Reed.

In addition to the upperclassmen, Van Matre said the team has a strong group of sophomores who play well together. Of those, forward Jonah Evans and defender Aaron Klemmensen are already key building blocks.

Van Matre is guardedly optimistic about what the group can accomplish.

“I hope we can finish at .500, that’s the starting point for goals,” Van Matre said. “Mostly, all of our efforts are playing Kokomo our first game. We never have beat Kokomo in the regular season.

“I think we have a chance to be competitive and we’re really putting a lot of effort in conditioning the last couple weeks. I think if our kids are in good shape and play hard we can compete with most of the teams on our schedule.”

The Comets visit Kokomo on Tuesday.

Kokomo

The Wildkats are trying to keep their positive momentum rolling as a junior-heavy team returns after a 10-7-1 record. That team graduated just four players.

“Expectations are high this year,” Wildkat coach Kismet Morrison said. “The guys are experienced. These are the same guys that started as freshmen. Half of them are juniors now.

“I think maturity has set in. Physically they’ve developed over the last 12 months. They are quicker, one can do more with them, they’re able to visualize and implement strategy. Add to that, most of them have been watching World Cup games so hopefully they’ve learned something from that too.”

Morrison said he’s building the team around eight juniors with a wealth of experience dating back to that freshman campaign, and a few seniors who have been contributors just as long.

The core of the team features central defender Blake Brutus, defender Bryan Parks, forward Jesus Rebollar (10 assists last season), midfielders Mark Simon, Ting Zhou, Tony Moses, Bobby Valdez and Tony Benedict, goalies/utility players Zacc Truman and Drew Marshall, and striker Levi Baker (21 goals). All are juniors except for Marshall, Baker and Valdez, who are seniors.

“The team is a well-balanced team,” Morrison said. “We just need to concentrate better in an 80-minute game, not 65 or 70 minutes. I think that’s going to be the major challenge this year, just staying focused all the time.”

The team needs consistent focus to reach their North Central Conference goals.

“We really want to be champions of the NCC this year and I think we’re in with a good shot this year,” Morrison said. “I’m hoping that by the time we get to Logansport, it’ll be the two of us that are undefeated, and hopefully that’ll be the deciding game of the NCC.”

Kokomo opens against Eastern on Tuesday.

Northwestern

Second-year coach Jim Wagner and the Tigers are targeting a more satisfying season after getting familiar with the demands of a new skipper last season. The Tigers finished 9-6-2.

“Of course, the expectations are higher this year,” Wagner said. “I think that this year, I would expect that we’d play a little bit more in the style that I want to see, a little more possession and maybe a little more balanced attack. And I think we’re seeing that in practice so I’m very encouraged about that.

“I’m hoping we’ll be able to incorporate a little more sophisticated approach to the game instead of being a simple team.”

Northwestern has the luxury of a senior class that’s a dozen strong. It’s a good place to start building, especially after the defense was gutted by graduation. That’s a worry for Wagner, whose first concern is always the defensive end of the field.

“We had five seniors who graduated, all off the defensive end, so we’ve been working really hard in trying to back-fill for them,” he said. “That’s the question mark going into the season.”

Starting with the defense, Wagner puts his faith in the seniors to form the core of the team.

Central defenders Adam Crocker and Nick Daanen are the leaders, with Evan Young taking over on the left.

In midfield Adam Fessenden (left) and Billy Pasquale (right) provide speed to flank positions surrounding central midfielders Jake Smallwood (eight goals) and Dalton Smallwood. Up front, Austin Finley (left, 10 assists) and Brett Galloway (right) are forwards.

Derek Miller will work in midfield but can also play in goal or defense. Chip Ziems, who moved in from out of state, can play in goal or defense. Tiger athlete Curtis Bretl is out for soccer for the first time and will play defense.

With the above crew of seniors leading the way, the Tigers are hungry for a better result than last season.

“Of course they want to correct things with the MIC, win that this year. We lost that with one loss last year,” Wagner said. “And then the sectional is always our No. 1 goal, to knock off Logansport.

“I think with the group that we have, that is definitely a realistic goal.”

Northwestern plays at Guerin Catholic on Thursday.

Taylor

New coach Mike Shane takes over a Taylor squad that improved to 6-11 last season. Shane, who has coached teams in the Kokomo Soccer Club and Taylor Soccer Club, will embark on a season filled with new territory for him. He doesn’t have a win total he’s shooting for, but he expects the players to see the fruit of their labor.

“I don’t necessarily judge it by wins and losses,” he said. “I know that’s important, that’s what everybody wants. When you’re building a program, you have to look at player development.

“I expect a winning season from them. I don’t see why that’s not possible at all.”

A new coach means that the team is in transition.

“They’re starting to learn a new system and how to play in the system,” Shane said. “We’re working on speed, we’re working on combination passing, we’re working on a little bit of everything. We’re working on conditioning, the technical, [and] the tactical [aspects].”

The Titans have a large senior class that Shane expects to rely on heavily this season. Included in the senior group are striker Spencer McQueary (21 goals), midfielder Ryan Goudy, midfielder/striker Ben Akers (nine assists) and goalie Seth Stockdell. Key juniors include three defenders — Adrian Bottomley, Evan Doran and Ryan Smith.

Shane thinks that combined with the rest of the squad, the Titans show promise.

“They look solid,” he said. “Offensively they look pretty good, defensively we’re trying to shore it up a little bit. They’re putting out a good effort.”

He thinks the Titans share his enthusiasm for the season.

“The general feedback I’m getting is they’re excited, they’re looking forward to it,” Shane said. “They’re learning what I want and what I expect and how I expect them to play.”

Taylor visits Western on Wednesday.