FALL SPORTS PREVIEW: Eastern Wayne boys' soccer

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on August 17, 2017 6:00 AM

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By JUSTIN HAYES

jhayes@newsargus.com

Everything, it seems, was different.

There were the uniforms, new and splashy and trimmed by Adidas, presented to the players ahead of the team's full-bodied, end-to-end grind session early last week.  

Look good, goes the logic, and play better.   

Then there was the talent pool, which organized hurriedly on its own and leaned on every word uttered by Eastern Wayne varsity soccer coach Scott Summers, as if he was speaking in a codified, secret language.

And perhaps it's because he was.

His words were brief, layered in higher-order concepts and often finished in unison by a couple of his players. Angus Dove, a sophomore with star-turn potential, led much of the session's early drill and fundamental work.

Such are the new days at New Hope.

"I'm excited," the coach said moments later, his voice waving in and out of a passing drill's echo. "We have guys that know their position from club, and are transitioning to high school... they understand the game."

Think sharper, goes the logic, and craft a winner.

In total, Summers has a dozen club-level players on his roster this fall, which means two things: less rudimentary building blocks and more pure futbol -- the kind of game built on fluid concepts and players that keep a ball on their foot year-round, not just in season.

"All that time you miss, not touching a ball," Summers said, "you can see the difference in the talent and the team chemistry when those guys are playing year-round."

And so far, so good.

Along with Dove, expect the speedy Alfrado Cabrera, who tallied five goals last fall in the shadow of Olympic development prospect Christian Anderson, to serve as the navy and old-gold's primary showrunners -- but with a crystal-clear directive from the bench.   

"I need him (Cabrera) to lead by example as a senior and his work rate," Summers said, his voice trailing. "I'm excited... and I think we can develop something that Eastern Wayne hasn't seen in a long time."

Just in a different way, of course, which is good.