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EDWARDSVILLE – A good turnout of approximately 75 players reported to the field Wednesday evening as Edwardsville's boys soccer team began preparations for the 2015 season at Tiger Stadium.
Eleven seniors were among the players taking part in opening-day drills, and Tiger coach Mark Heiderschied, who is beginning his 16th year as the Tigers’ coach, was pleased with how things went.
“We have some large numbers in our sophomore and junior classes, but our freshman numbers are a bit down,” Heiderschied said. “The freshmen we do have, though are some good-quality ones, so that's always a good thing.”
Of the 11 seniors who reported to opening workouts, five of them saw some considerable playing time last season. They include goalkeeper Trey Riley, midfielder Austin Toby, defenders Max Kieffer and Tristan Lieberman and Kyle Tucker.
“Trey stands about 6-1, 6-2, and he's certainly one of the top players in the area,” Heiderschied said. “All of our seniors, we think, will make some sort of impact this year.”
While how play goes will dictate what happens, Heiderschied thinks for the most part, he'll generally use a 4-2-3 or 4-1-4-1 formation on the field during the season. “We've traditionally played an Italian 4-4-2 in the past, but what formation we'll use will be dictated by what's happening on the field,” Heiderschied said. “A lot of it will depend on how things shake out; we'll certainly be flexible on what we play.”
The schedule, of course, will be a tough one, with the Tigers taking on St. Louis-area powerhouses CBC and DeSmet among the non-Southwestern Conference matches. “We're picking up (Columbia, Mo.) Rock Bridge this year too, as well as Normal Community (who finished second in last year's IHSA Class 3A playoffs), and we're playing in a tournament in Morton where we could see some of the top Chicago-area teams,” Heiderschied said. “As far as the Southwestern Conference goes, every team will be tough; you have to figure us, O'Fallon and Collinsville will be the top teams, but everyone will be good.”
The Tigers will open both the season and the SWC schedule at home Aug. 27 against Granite City.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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