Scoring is Primary Goal

With a lineup chock full of gifted scorers, the Palisades High boys’ varsity soccer team figures to score plenty of goals this season. For the first time in years, head coach Dave Williams has true offensive players to complement a traditionally strong midfield and he hopes that combination will lead to victory when the Dolphins travel to Cleveland for their season opener at 2:30 this afternoon. ‘I think this team has some legitimate scorers and the key will be how well we can get them the ball,’ Williams said after practice Tuesday. ‘I like what I’ve seen so far but we’ll find out more on Thursday. It’s one thing to play well in practice… now let’s see how we look in a game situation.’ Lack of conditioning was a problem last year when the Dolphins were outplayed numerous times in the second half. To correct that problem, Williams has had his team run three days a week since school started to build their endurance. ‘We worked with the ball two days a week and ran three days a week,’ Williams said. ‘They started at two miles a day and worked up from there. I don’t want them getting tired late in games.’ Though the Dolphins lost several key players to graduation, including top scorer Kevin Seto, it returns senior midfielder Michael Larin, who will be the captain this season. Other key returners include junior midfielder Ben Tom, junior sweeper Brock Auerbach-Lynn, senior midfielder Fabio Gonzalez and junior midfielder Ever Barrios. Sophomore Travis Park and junior Rudy Romero will share the goaltending duties. ‘We’re pretty strong at every position,’ said junior midfielder Francesco Coco. Added Tom: ‘We’re stronger than last year. Everyone has progressed and the new players we have are fitting in well.’ Larin said the key will be how well the team sticks together: ‘I’m looking forward to the season. We have a strong offense and a solid defense but in order to play well we need to work as a team.’ Palisades beat Cleveland, 1-0, last season and Williams is hoping for a similar result today but perhaps with a few more goals. ‘Our defense is young but we’ll see how it holds up. The main problem I see in scrimmages is that we need to communicate better out there.’ After Palisades hosts Reseda next Tuesday it won’t play again until after winter break when it hosts Westchester to start Western League play January 12. The Dolphins finished 5-6-3 last season and lost in the first round of the City Playoffs for the 11th time in 12 years.