The Cotter Boys Soccer team is returning many key players and goal scorers from last year, and is off to  a promising start to the season.

Last year, the team’s overall record was 8-7-3. The team lost 6 seniors from last year, but still has 5 returning starters who are all key players for the team.

Patrick Michener, last year’s conference player of year, will return as the leading goal scorer.

Coach Mark Gernes, who has been the Boys Soccer coach at Cotter for 3 years now, says that “Patrick will need to score a bunch of goals this year for the team to be successful.”

And he is very good at that. Last year Michener scored 14 goals for the season. Not only does Michener score a majority of the goals for the team, he does a great job of distributing the ball and creating scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Another key player for the team is Bryant Gernes, who is the most experienced defender and defensive leader on the field.  Gernes says ¨My job is to keep the defense together and communicate for the team.¨ Gernes is key on the field due to his ability to be vocal and force field communication.

Cade Espy and Daniel Cardenas will be very important for the team, especially with ball possession in the middle of the field and creating scoring opportunities for teammates.

The Cotter Boys Soccer team has two wins thus far, against Coulee Christian and Schafer Academy, and two losses, one against Hastings, the other against Pine Island-Zumbrota Mazeppa who they lost in overtime to.

“We have done a really good job with ball possession and controlling the game.  We are creating scoring opportunities and with just four games played we have five players that have scored at least one goal,” coach Mark Gernes said .

¨The Boys Soccer team looks to have a winning record for the season, win the Three Rivers Conference, and have some fun along the way,¨coach Gernes added.

Michener and Bryant Gernes hope to lead their team to achieve these goals and go farther into the playoffs than last year.

With winning the conference, the toughest teams for the team will be against PEM-DE and LaCrescent. Last year they tied with LaCrescent twice and tied with PEM-DE once and lost once, but they did beat them in playoffs.

For the seeding of the section, the games against Kasson and Lake City will be very important.
“Our game against Pine Island Zumbrota Mazeppa was a really good game and showed us what potential we have for the season and that we can compete with other skilled teams,”  Michener said.