Oakville Soccer Eyes District Championship

In a one-week span last season, the Oakville boys soccer program showed what it was capable of.

The Tigers kicked off that unforgettable week by winning 3-1 at Vianney on Sept. 18. Oakville then opened pool play of the Msgr. Louis Meyer Division of the CYC/Bob Guelker tournament with a 1-0 win over Fort Zumwalt West on Sept. 21.

The Tigers snuck by Chaminade, 1-0, with a last-minute goal, and earned a 1-1 draw against St. Mary’s to claim a spot in the semifinals of the CYC tournament.

Oakville saw a 2-0 lead over SLUH disappear, but the Tigers held on for a 3-2 win to advance to the championship. Oakville completed its improbable run by knocking off CBC 2-1 in the Sept. 25 final, the Tigers’ fifth win in seven days.

The six teams Oakville played from Sept. 18-25 had a combined record of 120-41 for the 2010 season. Dave Robben, who enters his 29th season as head coach of the Oakville boys soccer team, said the Tigers were the first public-school team in 18 years to win the top division of the CYC tournament.

“It had been dominated by that much by the parochial schools,” Robben said. “To have that kind of run, including that win over Vianney, was just a phenomenal thing. That expected a lot of maturity for kids to say, ‘OK, let’s put that in the past and go finish the regular season.’ After a peak like that, it was difficult to maintain.”

The Tigers weren’t able to keep the hot streak going after the win over CBC, as Oakville lost five of their next nine contests. Oakville ended the season with a 2-1 loss to Vianney in the district championship.

But with the Tigers losing only six seniors from last year’s 18-10-2 team and returning several key veteran players, the pieces are in place for Oakville to make the 2011 season a memorable one.

Back is senior striker Jared Swierk, who finished second in goals (11), assists (6) and points (28) for Oakville last season. Swierk will once again be one of the go-to players for Oakville, who lost 2010 top scorer John O’Brien (14 goals) to graduation.

“Jared has gotten taller and stronger. That combination with the way he played last year, Jared has the potential to really turn some heads this year,” Robben said.

Teaming up with Swierk up top will be a rotation of junior Mike Munsell and senior Patrick McInerney.

“Mike is a strong player on the ball,” Robben said. “He’s got good size, an excellent long throw and a knack for scoring goals. The potential is there for Mike, Jared and Patrick as that third attacker up top. They’re all good in the air. They take people on really well.”

In the midfield, Oakville no longer has Rylan Smelcer, who scored four goals, added seven assists and was named an All-State honorable mention a year ago. But returning for the Tigers is a group of midfielders that should more than make up for the loss of last year’s talent.

Junior Austin Glover will man the right flank, while junior Brian Tate will play the left. Robben called both players multi-dimensional, as they will be used in several different positions throughout the season.

Senior Luke Miller and junior Alex Dieckmann make up the Tigers’ central midfield. Miller scored three goals and recorded four assists last year and said he likes the way his squad looks so far.

“We’re always a really fit team, and we’ve got that again this year,” Miller said. “Coach works us hard, (and) it usually pays off as the season goes along…Last year we had a very young team, a lot of sophomores. I think the experience will really help us out this year.”

Dieckmann scored four goals and had an assist in 2010, and Robben said he will be Oakville’s main attacking midfielder this year. Because of Dieckmann’s passing ability and outstanding ball control, Robben called him “that ideal, perfect center-midfielder.”

Defensively, the anchor will be senior Zach Klipsch. Klipsch missed Oakville’s entire 2010 season due to an ACL tear he sustained while playing with his club team. As one of the Tigers’ leaders this year, Klipsch plans on keeping his team grounded.

“Sitting out last year, I thought that we just got big-headed,” Klipsch said. “Beating all the MCC (Metro Catholic Conference) schools in one week and thought we could just go out and beat anybody. This year, I’m going to try and keep everybody calm, and just go out and play our game, no matter who the opponent.”

Senior Clay Stocker, who played sweeper a year ago, is also back. Stocker notched three goals and six assists last year.

Juniors Kyle Filiput and Jordan Klipsch will be the team’s starting wide backs. Robben said that Filiput missed about two-thirds of the 2010 season due to an injury. Because of their speed, Robben anticipates all of his defenders being able to get forward into the attack.

Oakville’s biggest question mark comes at the goalkeeper position. The Tigers no longer have Josh Richter, an All-State first team selection who allowed only 22 goals in 29 games played a year ago.

“We’ve got three guys pushing for the spot right now, and so far it has been pretty competitive, which is good,” Robben said. “With another week to go before the end of preseason, that’s still up in the air.”

Robben said the Tigers’ goals for the season include contending for the Suburban West Conference crown and making it through districts. The last time Oakville won the district championship and qualified for the state tournament was in 2006. Oakville opens the season on Aug. 31 at 4:30 p.m. at Chaminade.

“You have to get through districts to even consider the next round,” Robben said. “It seems simple enough to understand, but it’s so difficult to do. We finished second in the district last year. Certainly what we deem as an achievable goal would be to shoot for the district championship this year.”