GUILDERLAND — Will the momentum from one of the biggest wins in program history carry over for the Guilderland boys’ soccer team this year"
Or will the Dutchmen have a major letdown"
"We got a lot of attention last year when we beat Shen," said Guilderland Coach Mike Kinnally. "It was great, but it also hurt us a bit. We are not used to being in big games."

Guilderland beat Shenendehowa High School in the Class AA Section II quarterfinals last fall, but lost to Saratoga in the semifinals a couple of days later.
"My goal as coach is to make sure the program is strong and not just a team," Kinnally said. "The staff is more open to some of the changes we made. The way we do things on the junior varsity is different than in the past."

Kinnally said that the goals have not changed since the first day he took over the program in 2003.
"We want to win more games every single year," Kinnally said. "But, if we have issues during the season, we want to be able to say that we had a quality season. If we have issues, we want to still win more than 10 games. That is always our target."
"We want to go a step further in sectionals," said co-captain Justin Sedefian said.
"We want to go all the way this year," Co-captain Karl Mohr added.

Changes

There will be some changes made this season, as Guilderland lost a lot of its offense.
"We lost 40 to 50 percent of our goals," Kinnally said. "They either graduated or they’re not playing."

Two players decided not to come out for the team this year, and, Kinnally said, six to eight goals could have been scored between the two of them.

The Dutchmen also lost a strong group of seniors who provided a lot of things including leadership and skilled play.
"We were at the point last year," Kinnally said, "that we had five guys in the Exceptional Senior Game that stood out."

Graduated are Kyle Klapp, Kyle Tassone, Phil Cassidy, and Uriah Myrie. Klapp, Tassone, and Cassidy are playing soccer in college, while Myrie came up with a save on the penalty kick that sealed the win over Shen.

Guilderland also lost a few players from the defensive end of the field as well. Though they return senior captains Mohr and Sedefian in the back.
"We should be able to score this year," Kinnally said. "But we have three main questions: Can we get pressure in the midfield" Can we get consistent play in goal" And can the defense come together"
"We could be starting two 10th-graders in the back," Kinnally added. "I was nervous about what we were going to do in the back two weeks ago."

Those two sophomores are Chris Talone and Jonathan Wheeler.

The Dutchmen will get offense from the Campagnano brothers, Tony and Frank. Both played in the Empire State Games this past summer.

A lot of younger players are starting to fill their roles on the varsity.
"We have a group of kids that are working hard," Sedefian said. "We lost a lot of players from last year."
"The younger players are stepping up," Mohr added.
"Getting in shape"

All the Guilderland players have been working hard to prepare for the season, which starts on Friday with a game against Queensbury in the Foothills-Suburban Council Challenge. Guilderland plays Scotia-Glenville on Saturday.
"We’ve done a lot of running," Mohr said. "We getting in shape for the season."

It will take more than skill for the Dutchmen to win games this season.
"Hopefully, we’ll keep our heads in the game," Mohr said. "We should have a pretty good team."
"Our goalkeeper will be a big question," Campagnano said. "We’ll score goals. We’ll need to play good in the back to win games."

The Dutchmen have only four seniors who will probably be starters this season, so a lot of the younger players will be relied on.
"The juniors and a couple of sophomores need to step up big this year," Mohr said.
"Some of the players have been there," Campagnano said. "They need to play a bigger role and get used to it.
"We’ll find out tomorrow," Campagnano said on Tuesday. "We have our first scrimmage; we’ll see if our games are polished."
"We’re in shape," Mohr added. "We now can focus on soccer."