by Ben Murphy
Sports Writer
The Clare soccer team will have plenty of familiar faces this fall. Fourth year head coach Jim Bond has 15 players back from last year’s team that went 6-10-2.
“Last year’s roster was young and inexperienced, but athletic,” Bond said. “With most of them returning and having a year of experience, we are hoping to have a great year and compete in both our conference and our district.”
Seniors coming back are Ethan Cook, Brady Emery, Daniel Stevens and Duncan Lowe. Juniors making the trip back are Keagen Paisley, Brogan Russel, Keagan Hill, Jeffrey Schafer, Jaxson Bryant, Jace Burhans, Noah Camp, Ethan McKinney and Charlie Jenkins. Sophomores back will be Liam Corp and Josh Zeilinger.
The Pioneers will once again be playing in the Northern Michigan Soccer League. The conference is usually loaded with some solid clubs.
“Gladwin had a really good year last year, and I’m sure they are going to be a very good team once again, in our eyes, they are the team to beat,” Bond said. “We are already seeing significant improvement from many of our players. Our goals are to win both our conference and our district. We know there are going to be some tough teams standing in our way, but if this team plays to their potential, both of those goals should be achievable. I honestly believe this team is going to be well balanced and we hope that our scoring comes from all over the place. I can honestly see any of our players on our roster having breakout years.”
Clare is 1-0-2 overall and in the NMSL through its first three games, having beat Pine River 5-2 and tied with Tawas Area 2-2 and tied with McBain Northern Michigan Christian 0-0. The Pioneers hosted Cheboygan on Thursday and plays at Shepherd on Tuesday.