By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — If quantity helps determine the measure of a good team, then 2024 is going to be one awesome campaign for Owego boys soccer.
The defending Section IV Class A champion River Hawks currently have 20 varsity players and 20 more on the JV squad.
“There's a couple of sophomores that we know we can trust them on both squads too, so now we're just finding the right balance in there, but numbers-wise, super healthy,” coach Alessio De Michele said.
Owego will be suiting up 14 seniors, all of whom played last year.
“They're all super excited about another fun year,” De Michele said.
The coach said winning a sectional title serves as motivation to do well in 2024.
“It always is,” he said. “One of the first things, we take a little walk through the trophy area. We can take a little look at it, give them a little spark. What's great is a lot of them have been part of it the past three years, some as freshmen, now seniors, and other ones are just as hungry to continue the success.
“What's great too is that our JV team has done super well over the years as well, and we've tried to keep a similar methodology, so it's a simpler transition as they step up to the big boys.
“It starts from the Hiawatha and TCYSA,” he added. “They do such a great job of getting players involved and loving the game. And then coach (Ryan) Dickinson with the JV, he's a little bit of a drill sergeant, but he gets them going. He sets the tone and they make big strides with him too where it makes my job a lot easier in terms of standards and expectations.
De Michele has been blessed with solid participation in the off-season as well.
“Again, I'm just super fortunate,” he said. “These guys love hanging around each other and love playing the game.”
The coach also credited the enrichment programs at Owego with bolstering the soccer program.
“We're so fortunate to use the turf and use all of our great equipment,” he said. “We’re playing Monday and Wednesday nights … a little bit more fun, more small-sided games. We're super lucky to do that and we played a couple of scrimmages with our friends at the Binghamton dome. They always look to organize extra games, so it's always awesome for us, a great summer league type of thing.
“We’re pretty much even across the board,” De Michele said of the experience level at Owego. “Our sophomore and junior classes, not quite as big as 14, but closing in on double digits, so it's an exciting time and there's a lot of quality in the group too.
The River Hawks aren’t taking the fact that they’ve won three consecutive Section IV championships for granted and are clearly focused on improving with each practice.
“The first week when we do our double sessions, it’s all about repetition, technique on place so we're getting players as sharp as we can,” De Michele said. “We want to be the team that's on the ball, that's creating, not reacting to other teams. In order to do that, we need all 11 players on the field and the players that come off the bench to be super sharp, to have good first touches, to have ideas in what they want to do too.
“So the first few days is a lot of repetition, aAs we get into next week, we look to do a few more patterns in terms of this is what we're going to look to try to attack. This is how we're trying to defend and create chances when we have it and to prevent chances, and maybe even be a threat on the counter attack when we don't have it.
Owego starts the season Thursday night at home against Susquehanna Valley.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
