SECOND SEASON

 What will the second year of soccer have in store for the Whitley County Colonels? They will surely not be the surprise team they were last year when the Colonels finished the season 7-7-5, winning five of their last nine games while tying two others.

Former University of Cumberlands star and second-year coach Bosko Cupac will have to replace eight seniors including goal keeper Shawn Harris and midfielder Michael Branham, who hopes to play for the Patriots this season.

“As far as the numbers were are looking good, even better than last year,” Cupac said. “We have a lot of our starters coming back, unfortunately we lost three or four key players in the middle and goal keeper which is going to be hard to replace.”

“With the talent we have this year and the kids coming from the middle school we are going to be right where we need to be,” he said.

“On paper and talent wise we are looking really strong,” Cupac said.

Cupac said he beefed up his schedule and added some of the teams to the north and will play in a tournament at Madison Southern and Berea. “It’s actually a little heavier schedule than last year. We will play in the Garrard County tournament and one at Madison Southern.”

The Colonels will remain in the 31st District with Corbin, South Laurel, North Laurel, Oneida Baptist and Middlesboro. Whitley County opens at North Laurel Tuesday, August 16, followed by a trip to Pulaski County, Thursday, August 18.

Outside of the district the Colonels will take on Perry County Central, Garrard County, Letcher County Central, Southwestern and Monticello.

Cupac is looking to seniors Alex Rains, Cameron Reeves, Seth McCoy and Johnny Mahan to lead his team. “They have been outstanding and were our anchors from last year. I expect them to step up and do as well if not better this year,” Cupac said.

Dalton Siler will step into the goalie’s spot for the departed Harris. “Shawn will be hard to replace. There is no way to replace talent like that and an athlete like that, but the kid coming in has a lot of heart,” Cupac said.

“This kid is willing to work and is always looking to help out the team vs. to be out for himself,” he added. “He came out for the team last year and was doing well, but do to some personal reasons had to quit. He has the potential to be a great goalie.”

“I am so excited to get started once again,” Cupac said. “This is a special group of kids. When we started the program they were freshmen and now they are seniors. They have grown up and learned the game. They have gotten used to my coaching and my style of play, so I am super excited about getting the season started.”

“I hope they get a good result by the end of their high school career,” Cupac added.

The Whitley County coach said he was not overly concerned about having a better record this year as he is learning the game. “When it is all said and done I want them to be able to say I learned to play soccer.”

“The main thing with me is competing,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the score of the game is as long as we are competing. I believe with this team if we compete we are going to get good results and put a lot of teams out of play.”