BATAVIA BLUE DEVILS (Class B1)
Last season finish: 4-11-1
Coach: Brandon Every (8-22-1/third year)
Top returners: Garrick Havens (Sr. – four year starter), Joshua Weis (Sr. – four year starter)
Top newcomers: Jaziel Childs (Jr.), Troy Heldson (Jr.), Derrick Fedus (Sr.)
First game: Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Avon
Outlook: Havens and Weis bring a unique level of senior leadership to the Blue Devils, having played every game since their freshmen season. Coach Every looks to Childs to bolster an already experienced midfield, while Heldson and Fedus hold down the defense. With all of them working together, will Batavia compete late into the 2019 season?
EASTRIDGE LANCERS (Class A2)
Last season finish: 7-9-1
Coach: Jeremy Loncao (7-9-1/second year)
Top returners: Alex Wood (Jr. – 2018 First Team All-County), Justyn Hiscock (Sr. – 2018 Second Team All-County)
Top newcomers: Alaadin Ali (So. – called up mid-season as a freshman)
First game: Thursday, Sept. 5 vs. Greece Odyssey
Outlook: After starting 0-6 last season, the Lancers were able to put up a 7-3-1 record. Can Eastridge build off of that success in the 2019 season?
GREECE ODYSSEY LEOPARDS (Class B1)
Last season finish: 14-4
Coach: Scott Mikulski (134-128-24/17th season)
Top returners: Aiden Drake (Sr. D), Seth Simmons (Sr. D), Gavin Tudisco (Sr. D), Ryan Michelsen (So. MF)
Top newcomers: Gavin Watt (Jr. MF), Gabriel Cobo (So. MF), Mayken Perez (So. MF)
First game: Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Dansville at 4:30 p.m.
Outlook: The Leopards lost six All-County players in a group of nine seniors from last season. “Some early season growing pains” are inevitable, says Coach Mikulski. But, depending on how quickly this group is able to adjust, will they find themselves seeded higher than expected?
GREECE OLYMPIA SPARTANS(Class B1)
Last season finish: 5-11-1, lost in quarterfinals to eventual champion Pal-Mac
Coach: Robert DuPrau (62-90-4/10th year)
Top returners: Andrew Balch (Sr. MF), Tristan Caruana (Sr. D), Dennis Banahene (Jr. MF)
Top newcomers: Jacob Landro (Sr. F – Foreign Exchange student from Norway), Christof Kurzbauer (Sr. D – Foreign Exchange student from Austria)
First game: Wednesday, Sept. 11 vs. Honeoye Falls-Lima
Outlook: 24 of the 34 goals scored last season came from players who graduated last June. However, can the top returners and newcomers fill in the offensive and defensive gaps to push Olympia toward a winning record?
HONEOYE FALLS-LIMA COUGARS (Class A2)
Last season finish: 4-11-2
Coach: Mike Merrill (157-71-18)
Top returners: Hayden Smith (Sr. Center Back), Hank Lehning (Sr. Outside Back), Christopher Goetz (Sr. MF), David Brassie (So. MF), Gunner Wetzel (Jr. MF), Tyler Terwilliger (Jr. MF), John-Henry Woloszuk (Jr. MF)
Top newcomers: Will Eby (Jr. MF), Valentino Maiola (So. MF), Brian Reinke (GK)
First game: Friday, August 30 vs. Rush Henrietta
Outlook: The Cougars return eight starters from last year’s team. With both the returners and the newcomers, can HF-L bounce back from an uncharacteristically tough 2018?
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