Over the last three seasons, the now-seniors on Lordstown’s soccer team have taken some lumps.
They’ve learned lessons from those losses over the years and, in their last go-round, are eager to hand out some lessons of their own.
Through six games, the Red Devils have been able to do that, sitting at 4-1-1, which includes a 4-1 victory over Niles.
“They know that this is their last chance to really play together as a team and try to compete with some of these better programs, and it’s just been a goal for all of them,” Lordstown coach Eric Lloyd said. “We set goals at the beginning of the season, just like everybody else does, and these guys have made it their mission to compete with everybody.
“We want to be noble-minded on the field, and be dignified. Win with dignity, lose with dignity. Those are the things that they want to do. It’s just a lot of perseverance and dedication. These guys have put in a lot of time in the offseason training, and they really want to do something special this year. They want to compete with everybody that they play against on the field. It’s just really nice to be able to be a part of that with them and watch their journey.”
The senior-laden Lordstown squad has no shortage of leaders. They’ve been through a lot together, and the experience has only made them better both on and off the field.
“I’ve got a great group of kids together on this team. We’ve got eight seniors on the team. These guys have been playing together their whole lives, just very, very close with one another,” Lloyd said. “The brotherhood that these guys have created with the underclassmen has just been amazing. That’s basically what’s led us on our way here for these first six games. The leadership that our captains have shown has been amazing. The way that they help the underclassmen and the way that they promote each other.
“(The Brookfield game) was a perfect example. We have some standout guys on the team in this group of seniors, and Ganon Force, he’s kind of like the engine for this group of young men. He scored a couple goals in the first 10 minutes of the game, and then spent the rest of the next 70 distributing to everybody else. It was an opportunity there for him to get some other guys some action out there on the field, and he spread it around. We were able to win that game 9-0, but I had eight different guys score goals in that game. It was just a testament to him and his leadership and the leadership of the other captains, Dylan Davis, our senior goalkeeper, and Noah Senne. These are just great guys, and they’re really going to be missed when they graduate next year.”
Force leads the team with five goals. Junior Jonathan Frank has four and senior Joey Rose has scored three.
The defining mantra for the Red Devils this year is “CLEATS”. More than just what they’re wearing on their feet, it’s an acronym coined by the coaching staff spelling out the ways the players can grow to their potential.
“We use the word cleats for everything,” Lloyd said. “We always ask them, ‘Do you have your cleats on today?’ CLEATS stands for communication, love, effort, attitude, trust, and self-discipline. Those are all the key components that these guys can control on the field, and the way we see it, if they control all of those things, everything else is going to fall into place, and that’s what we live by this year.”
The Red Devils’ main goal this season is to win in the postseason. It’s something that’s eluded this senior class the last three years, and they want to end their time at Lordstown with a tournament win under their belt.
“I think that the ultimate goal is to win in the postseason,” Lloyd said. “These guys have not experienced a win at the playoff level, and I think that that’s a major goal for them. That first round of the playoffs, they want to be positioned in a nice enough spot where you know we’re not playing the No. 3 team in the first round because that’s the only spot left on the board. That’s the pick. Maybe somebody that we can compete with a little bit more and potentially get a playoff win. That’s really the goal.”
The key is sticking to the mantra and putting their CLEATS to action.
Lordstown’s next contest is against Heartland Christian. After that, the rest of the month is dedicated solely to league games before closing the regular season with LaBrae and Jackson-Milton.
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