(This article first appeared in the August print edition of the Hendersonian.)
It will be a rebuild for the Henderson County Colonels Boys soccer team in every sense of the word this year. The Cols are losing 14 seniors, including Jace Benton who will play at Kentucky Wesleyan and Elliott Pryor going to Oakland City.
They’ll also be without would-be senior Jax Benton, who led the team with both 31 goals and 15 assists, as he pursues a professional career in Germany. In total, HCHS will be losing nearly 80% of its offensive production from last season.
Henderson County finished 17-4-4 on the season, making it to the State quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual state runner-up Louisville Collegiate. It will be a tall task to replicate last season’s success.
“I’ve never lost that many kids before. What it left us with is a lot of talented players, but they’re inexperienced. It’s just the inexperience factor. We have good players. It’s just going to be learning to grow and play together,” said Head Coach Benson Pryor.
Among those talented players looking to lead the Cols this year are the only returning starters, Lincoln Black and Alex Bowley, as well as experienced goalkeeper Aaden Bugg. All three are seniors this year.
While Black will help anchor the defense, junior Miles Pryor should help pace the midfielders. Bowley will be expected to lead the offensive attack. He brings back the most production after collecting 10 goals and three assists last season.
“We are coming in young, only returning two starters. I’m very positive that we are going to create a lot of chances and score a lot,” said Bowley. “I hope to be that guy who can step forward and put the ball in the back of the net when we need it.”
Bowley also hopes to grow into a team leader who is able to show up prepared everyday and be a positive role model for his teammates. He and fellow senior Camden Shoemaker have been named team captains early on.
Bugg was not the starter in goal last year, but has plenty of skill, experience and confidence. He appeared in 14 games, where he collected 19 saves, while allowing only four goals and recording one shutout. He plans to be the leader in the back.
“We’ll have good chemistry as a team so it’s looking bright. I’m a pretty dominant goalkeeper, so I think I’m going to hold the team together,” said Bugg.
Pryor was able to get an early look at his squad with three preseason contests at the Bluegrass State Games in July. The Cols were able to pick up a win over Bishop Brossart and two draws against Ballard and Bryan Station. Pryor was impressed with his players in their first action of the new season.
“We were excited with the weekend at the Bluegrass Games. All three teams were really strong. We got a good idea of what our areas of improvement would need to be right away. We have really high expectations and that was before we saw what I feel was a really good start at the Bluegrass Games.”
Pyror feels that their strengths early begin with the goal scorers, where he hopes they’ll be able to get the ball forward a lot and put it in the net often. He’s also excited to have Bugg in the goal, calling him the “best keeper in the region” in his opinion.
Although HCHS lost lots of players, Pryor said other region contenders such as University Heights and Madisonville-North Hopkins also lost a lot of their core as well, leaving the region open for the taking.
The Cols schedule could develop into a daunting one. Eight of their games will be against teams who were in the top 30 of the RPI last year. The Cols were 16th in the final RPI rankings of the season.
If you ask the players which game they’ve got circled, it would certainly be a home matchup against Madisonville on September 16. The long-time rivals were part of a heated match in the regional semifinal last season, with the Cols emerging with a 1-0 victory.
“Our biggest competition will probably be Madisonville-North Hopkins, however we really think we will be able to come in and win the region,” said Bowley. “Come out and support us because we are going to be a fun team to watch.”
