Richard Northcutt As the Signal Mountain boys’ soccer team participates in Baylor’s tournament this weekend, it will be about more than just winning games. It will be about learning.
The Eagles are coming off 2014 district and region titles, which paved the way to a Class A/AA state tournament appearance, but they graduated nine seniors and eight starters. Now coach Richard Northcutt and the three remaining starters, all seniors, are working to help this year’s team come together.
Their biggest challenge so far, beyond youth, has been the weather.
“I think we planned on having 18 practices before tonight, but with snow and everything we’ve had seven,” Northcutt said Tuesday night after an 8-0 season-opening loss to Baylor. “We have three starters from last year, and we’re just not bringing a prepared group yet. They haven’t played together.”
Northcutt said he is remaining optimistic and still believes the pieces to be successful are in place, but it’s going to take time. Game-day focus is even more important for the Eagles now.
“We have to practice through our schedule,” Northcutt said. “We can’t ever give up, and we have to continue to learn in the games. The components to be good are there, and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. They have just have to play together.”
Signal Mountain is not waiting around to get some big-game experience, as the early-season schedule is grueling. The Eagles already have faced 2014 Division II-AA state finalist Baylor and will start tournament play today against Fort Payne, last year’s No. 3 ranked team in Alabama. They also will square off with Collinsville, a 2013 Alabama state champion that lost in the first round of last year’s state tournament, and Knoxville Catholic.
While the start to the season is tough, it can help serve as a measuring stick for the inexperienced Eagles and give them an opportunity to see the type of competition they will have to face in the postseason.
Stephan Heinchen, Brian Hodges and Josh Patta, the three starters left from last year’s team and senior co-captains, agree with Northcutt that time and experience will benefit Signal Mountain.
“We just haven’t congealed as a team yet,” Hodges said. “I think with two or three weeks of games and practice, we should be top-notch again.
Patta said he tries to talk “a lot” and communicate with the younger players on the field to help guide them.
“It’s hard to play with a whole new group,” Heinchen said. “We just have to help each other at practice and in games. It’s going to take work.”
Other area teams in the Baylor tournament’s loaded field include McCallie, a 2014 state quarterfinalist; Notre Dame, a top A/AA team; East Hamilton, a competitive AAA team; and Southeast Whitfield, which was ranked No. 3 in Georgia last year. The tournament is in its fourth year, and games go through Saturday.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com