Soccer: New head coach for Storm Boys

Joey Matesi, new head boys soccer coach at Chanhassen, originally from Albuquerque, N.M., helped Hamline University to its best finish in seven seasons as a senior goaltender while in college.

Now he hopes to help Chanhassen, in its seventh school year, to its best finish ever.

Currently the Director of Goalkeeping at Maplebrook Soccer Association, Matesi enters with six-plus years of coaching experience at both the club and high school level.

He is excited to take over for previous coach Phil Walczak, who resigned after two seasons. Matesi is extremely optimistic for the upcoming years and is dedicated to building a strong program both on the field and in the community.

The 2014 season was one of great opportunity for the Storm. They posted six wins, but had chances for many more, tying five times and losing one game in overtime.

Returning from that team is a young group of players that saw significant time as the season progressed. Seniors Grant Abrahamson and Josh Gersh are being asked to lead the talented youth movement.

"Grant is a very strong player who loves to attack. A big threat up top. Josh is a creative play maker, with great distribution and vision," Matesi said.

Junior Jack Foley is another strong attacking player who had a knack for finding the back of the net last season according to Matesi. He and freshman Danny Brown will shoulder some of the scoring load this season.

"Great young attacking player with star potential. Great on and off the ball with both the abilities to set up and finish plays," Matesi said.

AJ Olson, a third-year defender, leads the back end of the Chanhassen line-up.

Sophomore Jake Mahabadi and junior Alex Bader also gained valuable experience last season on the pitch.

For the girls, now in the third season under Joe Szorcsik, the Storm are looking to build off seven- and nine-win campaigns in 2013 and 2014.

Chanhassen had one of the stingiest defenses in the state last season, allowing one or fewer goals in 12 of 16 games.

Back from that defense is starting goaltender Dylan Melby as well as defenders Claire Navara and Erin Schneiderhan.

Midfielders Cameron Olson, Sydney VanBergen and Laura Powell bridge the gap to two talented scoring forwards in Maria Westerhaus and Quinn O'Connor, a junior.

Westerhaus, the leading scorer in 2015, has been a mainstay in the Storm varsity program since her freshman season. She is one of four captains along with Melby, Scheniderhan and Meagan Selinger.

MINNETONKA

The Minnetonka Girls Soccer team is looking forward to a competitive season with strong leadership from seniors, a good mix of returning 10th and 11th graders, and several solid newcomers, said coach Jeff Hopkins.

State champions in 2013, the Skippers won seven games last season, falling to Wayzata in the section semifinals after finishing 2-4-2 in the Lake Conference.

Minnetonka returns just five seniors, but it is a "solid core defensively" that will be leaned on to keep the team in games.

Returning team MVP goalkeeper Katie McMillan is in her third season in nets, flanked by all-state honorable mention and all-conference selection Reagan Fleck, a senior captain, and all-conference and captain Molly Pitzele.

Junior JoJo Praska also returns as a starter, giving Minnetonka four of its five players back in the line-up on the back end.

In the midfield, junior Gabby Pitera, a third-year starter, honored as all-conference in 2014, returns along with all-conference honorable mention junior Mari Ferrer-Lugo. Hopkins looks to junior Izzy Matchan, junior Paige Tuttle and sophomore Madi Henry to play significant minutes as well.

The attack includes junior returners Kaitlin Campbell and Makenzie Beno with senior Avery Amorosi also having years of experience. "We will need for some players to provide scoring as this is an area that will develop as the season progresses," Hopkins said.

Conference and section-wise, the 2015 won't be any different than it has been previously. The Lake is a grind and a new section, 2AA, is among the best with the likes of Prior Lake and Eden Prairie up for the challenge.

"The Lake Conference has five teams that are annually ranked in the top 10 and provides us great competition to prepare us for sections. I expect Eden Prairie to be favored with Wayzata and Edina in the mix," the coach said. "With the recent section placements we moved to Section 2AA and look to challenge Eden Prairie, Prior Lake, Chanhassen, and Shakopee for top honors and a berth to state."

For the boys, who ended and start the season as the No. 1 team in the state, they look to unfinished business in 2015.

Unbeaten through the first 18 games, including a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Bloomington Jefferson in the section finals, Minnetonka was shocked in the state tournament, falling to Anoka 2-1.

While the Skippers graduated seven players from its main rotation, they do return 10 players, including the Gatorade Player of the Year in Suad Suljic. The now senior scored 18 goals and had 32 points in 19 games last season.

Juniors Avery Weaver and Josh Greiner also have scoring punch, having netted eight and six goals, respectively, last season.

Minnetonka's defense is intact with seniors Jake Orlowsky, Nagu Chidambaram, and Teo Speece leading the way. Junior Hudson Meester also played in 14 games last season.

Senior Stian Firehammer and junior Finn Histon are valuable midfielders with freshman Sergio Rivas turning heads in a scrimmage Tuesday with Chaska.

The biggest question mark is in goal where Max Melin and Nathan Abzug played every minute as seniors. Junior Carl Arps and sophomore Tom Bennett are listed as goalkeepers on the 2015 roster.

HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC

A 4-0-1 stretch for Holy Family Catholic, including wins over Chanhassen and Edina, and a draw with Eden Prairie, was a part of a nine-win season for the Fire boys in 2014.

Leading scorer Kyle Orr is gone, but captain Mason Logan, who scored 10 goals with five assists, returns up top for Holy Family Catholic.

Midfielder Noah Hawke (four goals) and Brady Richter (two goals), a sophomore, also give the Fire scoring punch.

Holy Family Catholic graduated just five players with starting goaltender John Pearson, who had 95 saves in 15 games, also is back for the Fire.

Like the boys, the Fire girls team lost its top offensive scorers in Claire Oberle, Kendall Thompson and Erin Brown. Remains are three seniors with six sophomores on the roster.

Senior Sam Curoe and junior Samm Dalsin, captains, return to the midfield for the Fire with senior captain Annie Rothstein in the defensive backfield.

Senior Katheryn Furlong, juniors Sophia Puff and Abby Ernst, and sophomore Claire Rothstein also spent time on varsity for Holy Family Catholic last season.

Grace Deavan will start the season in goal for the Fire

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