Fairfield boys’ soccer has one goal: State

The Fairfield boys' soccer team has had the talent to get to the doorstep of the state tournament the last several years and this time they plan on kicking the door open. With less then a week before their first contest, a scrimmage with Burlington-Notre Dame, the Trojans are tightening their communication and working towards their common goal, making it back to the state tournament.

Kobe Cassens-Navesse, Sr., Defense

'I've been working on my touch. If there's a hard ball coming at me, settling under it better.”

Goals?

'Make it to state.”

Still working on ... 'Working as a team, not being so selfish and trying to dribble past five guys.”

Juan Rojo, So., Wing/CDM

'We've been working hard in the offseason and we're ready to bring it to the pitch and show them what we've got. It's just fun with us all smiling and playing as a team.”

Goals?

'Go to state and win the conference. Get closer together and communicate more.”

Still working on ... 'Communication, some of us would just go out to a field and work and some of us played indoor soccer in Ottumwa which helped us memorize our runs and speed the game up.

Xavier Kapijimpanga, So., Forward/attacking midfield

'It's a new group and we're kind of younger so we're still getting used to each other.

Still working on ... 'I've been working more on my vision, seeing the field. Seeing what players are open and who I can get the ball to as quick as I can. I feel like I've also got a lot better with my dribbling and create plays in space so me or my teammates can score and win the game basically. One thing I still need to work on is communication and keeping a positive attitude.”

Goals?

'As a team, going to state is really all that matters to me. Personally, I'm trying to be the best player in the Southeast Conference if not Iowa. After coming out with 18 goals and eight assists last season, I feel like I can take over and do whatever I can to help my team.”

Leone Gichure, Jr., Forward

'I'm excited to get those dubs and win the conference and make it to state.”

Working on ... 'I usually don't play a lot of indoor soccer, but like Juan said, it really helped our game with the fast pace up there and then coming to open gyms as much as I can and trying to get a feel for fast-paced soccer.

Maxx Anderson, Sr., Goalie

'I can't wait to play varsity this year because there is less competition for goalkeeping, but there are still plenty of kids that will get a look. I'm excited that this team will get a chance to develop a lot with past teams having less kids but with more experience and we have a lot of new freshman and sophomores.”

Working on ... 'I had knee surgery so I was out for the fall season and over the winter so I didn't get to participate in indoor soccer. I've been working on my ball touch and handling and Coach Daniel and I have just started working out in the weight room and then in the wrestling room working on my diving.”

Challenges? 'It's either going to be keeping my temper under control or improving my willingness to dive because I'm still hesitant that I'm going to hurt myself. I think right now I'm about 80-percent but by the time we play teams like Pella, I'll have to go for it 100-percent because I won't have any other option.”

Coach

Roster

'We have a lot of players coming back from last season and a lot of them are sophomores. We have quite a few new freshmen, but most of them have some soccer experience from the traveling teams. Right now I'm just trying to get the new guys up to speed.”

Challenges?

'Communication. We've had this problem before and for some reason they play without talking to each other and in the game of soccer, you have to communicate because sometimes players make good runs and if nobody knows what you're doing or where you are, it's hard to get the ball to you but it's a work in process.”

Frustrating that they talk plenty in practice?

'Yeah. During breaks they are friends and they talk too much. I want them to talk to each other in soccer terminology.”

Strategy?

'We are going to be attacking, that's how I coach. We will go with a balanced formation, the 4-2-3-1 and sometimes the 4-3-3.

4-2-3-1 means four defenders, two defensive midfielders, three attacking midfielders and a point forward. 4-3-3, you still go with the four defenders, but three midfielders and three forwards and one of the midfielders is more defensive in nature so he helps out the back four. The 4-3-3 is very good but it requires a lot of communication because there are a lot of moving parts and the midfielders have to do a lot of rotating and there can be a lot of breakdowns.”

Offensive firepower

'We have some pretty good options with Leone, Xavier, Nick [Frisbie] and an upcoming kid Isaac [Rosales] so on offense we are pretty well covered. In midfield we have some good players like Juan Rojo and Landen [Schafer]. Eli on the wing and Dagan can play inside or outside and Adrien creates lots of offense while playing CDM.”

Rivals

'In conference, I think Mt. Pleasant will be our toughest competition from what I've seen but I'm basing my opinion on last year and Pella is always good but we're going to beat them. I can feel it. This is the year, I'm just working on getting the players up to speed with this very short preseason before we have our first scrimmage Monday and game Tuesday.”

Confidence

'I'm pretty confident we can win the SEC and this team is good, we just need to get over that hump. I don't know if it's bad luck, but we've seen Pella the last couple of years in the final but we've been knocking on the door and this is the year that it will open for us. I'm confident in that and we have the talent, we just need to get everyone on the same page.”