Knights captain Brock Ruzicka (14) passes the ball to co-captain Mason Herman (10) last Tuesday night against the Benton Community Bobcats in Van Horne during the newly formed JV team’s season opener. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

VAN HORNE-The Union boys junior varsity soccer team played their first game of the season on the road against Benton Community last Tuesday evening – inaugurating a new program under head coach Matt Brustkern.

Prior to the this season, the Knights had a sharing agreement in place with Hudson for boys soccer but that arrangement was ended last fall by Hudson for a variety of reasons.

In light of Hudson’s decision, Union started its own program from scratch this season with a JV team only with the expectation that such a move would allow for a slow but steady build of both the program and the team roster before launching into varsity competition.

“The team is very inexperienced,” coach Brustkern told the Telegraph following the Benton game which Union lost 0-3. “We have several players that have not played organized soccer for years. There are [only] five players that played last year in any form.”

Those five include two juniors who played for Hudson last season – captain and midfielder/forward Brock Ruzicka and defender Alexander Dickerson and three freshman with previous recreational soccer experience – Hunter Brustkern, Kellen Satterlee, and Brandon Frush.

Union freshman midfielder Hunter Brustkern (5) takes possession of the ball and breaks away from the Bobcat defense on March 28 in Van Horne. Brustkern is one of only five players on the newly formed Union JV team with recent soccer experience. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

Experience or not, Brustkern does have a full roster for which he is thankful but six of the 15 are dual sporting, he said, making for a tricky schedule.

“About half of our games conflict with other activities,” Brustkern said, “so I am expecting five games where we will only have one sub. There will be growing pains as we try to grow something new but I’m focused on being flexible so [the athletes] can determine if they enjoy the sport.”

Even with just one sub, a roster made up of mostly rookies, and a fiercely cold wind, the team more than held their own against the Bobcats last week, allowing just one goal in the first half and two in the second.

Captain Ruzicka along with fellow co-captain Mason Herman who plays forward/midfielder and keeper Colton Wenszell were the clear leaders on the field in Van Horne, with the ball spending much of the first half in Bobcat territory allowing for several shots on the goal by the Knights including one apiece by the captains.

Hunter Brustkern and freshman Henry Hegdahl also notched a shot apiece on the goal.

Knights keeper Colton Wenszell boots the ball away from the goal last Tuesday against the Benton Community Bobcats in Van Horne. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

When the ball did manage to find its way across the field into Knight territory, Wenszell was more than up to the challenge of defending Union’s goal, making six saves total including at least two hard fires in the first half.

“Colton did a great job in goal Tuesday night,” coach Brustkern said of his keeper. “He made some wonderful saves and I look forward to seeing him continue to grow in that position.”

At the half, the coach told his team that while they were hanging in there against Benton, “One thing we are not doing well is getting the ball to the outside.”

Not clearing the ball by the defenders led to the one and only goal scored in the first half by the Bobcats.

“The defense will need to work more as a cohesive unit,” coach Brustkern said.

Union boys soccer head coach Matt Brustkern speaks to his players during halftime last Tuesday evening in Van Horne against Benton Community. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

Other areas of improvement include timing and spacing, the coach added.

“Brock had several crosses into Hunter where we were in the right position, but we missed connecting by a couple feet. Then offensively we will need to learn appropriate time when to slow down a bit. Midfielders Kengo [Uchiyama-Hansen] and Blake [Taylor] did an excellent job but as the game progressed into the second half we ended up with some huge gaps in the middle of the field.”

Even with the loss, Brustkern said he was very happy with how his team played.

“Two of the goals [Benton] scored came down to decision making but having a new team with limited experience that is how we will learn. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the season as I did not know what to expect coming into this year. It’s great to get the first game under our belt to understand some of the things we need to work on.”

The Union Knights will next see action on April 10 at home against Waverly-Shell Rock beginning at 6 p.m. followed by another home game against Mount Vernon on Friday, April 14 beginning at 5 p.m.

Knights captain Mason Herman maneuvers the ball toward the goal against the Benton Bobcats during Union’s season opener in Van Horne on March 28. Despite having little to no experience playing soccer prior to this season, Herman was named co-captain by coach Matt Brustkern for being “extremely passionate about the success of the team.” Herman notched two shots and one shot on goal during the game. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

Junior Brock Ruzicka (14) boots the ball downfield while battling against the Bobcats’ defense March 28 in Van Horne during the Knights season opener. Ruzicka notched two shots and one shot on goal during the game. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON