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Boys soccer: Nationally-ranked Farmers out to fast start
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
In a district that features Coppell, Flower Mound, Hebron and Marcus, it's easy for Lewisville's boys soccer team to be overlooked.
But an early 9-0-1 start may have caught the attention of fellow 5-5A coaches as well as national pundits as Lewisville continues to gear up for district competition.
The Farmers are currently ranked No. 15 in the nation by the Elite Soccer Report and their solid start includes a first-place finish last weekend at the Denton Guyer Iron Bridge Classic, going 3-0 with wins over Justin Northwest (1-0), Keller Fossil Ridge (2-0) and Sachse (4-1).
McCallum is pleased with the offensive performance as well as the Farmers have scored at least two goals in every match but one.
Lewisville enters 2013 with a roster that features five seniors in addition to others with varsity experience.
"We have a good combination of returning players and guys new to the varsity," McCallum said. "A majority of the team was on varsity last year but weren't necessarily starters. And we have a few guys from JV last season that have stepped in and done well."
Starters back for Lewisville include senior midfielders Brandon Hom and Trea Smith, senior defenders Christian Vasquez and Aaron Henry, and senior forward Nate Bukassa.
"The rest of the guys are either up from JV or were subs last year and have expanded roles this season," McCallum said.
At goalie, Lewisville will look to junior Angel Herrera.
"He started some last year," McCallum said. "He's very consistent and has improved his command in the box. He's a lot more mature and is much more vocal on the field."
Joining Vasquez and Henry in the back is junior Riley Mills.
"Riley played on the right last season but we moved him into the middle this year to fill a spot," McCallum said. "Aaron is back after missing a lot of last season with an injury and Christian is in his third year on varsity and does a great job."
Rounding out the midfielders are juniors Van Thang and Van Nung.
"We have good experience through the middle," McCallum said. "And we have a couple guys who played forward some last year but moved to middle to fill voids. Everyone has stepped up so far and we haven't had any real issues."
Joining Bukassa up top are juniors Brandon Tenorio, Van Cung and Emmanuel Rodriguez. Jerson Velasquez and Petter Rossfjord also figure into the mix.
"We have a good rotation there," McCallum said. "We have players that can play with a lot of pace, guys that are solid technical players and guys that play with a lot of finesse. They can change the game and give us another dimension."
Thus far, Bukassa leads the team in scoring, while Hom paced the squad last season.
"For us, we want to try and get numbers forward," McCallum said. "We want to force the action and be able to get back quickly if we need to. So far, our backs have been doing a great job of that and that's one of the reasons we've been successful."
But there are still strides to make.
"Our biggest issue has been in the middle third," McCallum added. "We need to have a little more patience and composure and maintain possession more. We can't have a one pass and then lose it. Another thing is we could finish more because we've been creating a ton of chances."
With a solid start in the mirror, the Farmers are hopeful to continue moving forward and qualify for the playoffs out of 5-5A.
"It looks like Marcus and Coppell are going to be the class of the district," McCallum said. "And Hebron was a team that beat Coppell in the playoffs the last couple of years. Ryan is an improved team from Class 4A and Flower Mound is talented. I think it's going to be a tossup and a dogfight all year for the last couple of spots."
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