Men’s soccer aiming high after spring break practices

By: Jason Rathjen

As the Monday of spring break approaches, the dragging of the feet and the dreading begins to intensify for members of the men’s soccer team. When the alarm starts blaring before 6 a.m., they know they are in for a week from hell.

“Monday morning is usually the hardest workout,” senior defender Caleb Schreiber said. “It’s always tough, and it’s the first of the week.”

With grueling four-mile runs with a 30-minute time limit as well as back to back miles under seven and half minutes, players were pushed to their breaking points in their fitness over the course of the week.

“My intentions for spring break are to really push the players,” head coach Spencer Steffy said. “It was a week focused on gaining our fitness back and doing a lot of basic training stuff on the ball to get back into the swing of things.”

Steffy said he was proud of what the team accomplished over their break from school. “All in all, I was very happy with the group of players who completed everything we did over spring break and pushed through everything we did,” Steffy said.

Although the week causes physical stress and fatigue for the players, they do find the bright side of things during the week. “It’s always exciting for the season to start,” Schreiber said. “Even if the practices are tough, it’s always fun to get back into the swing of things,” senior Eric Sesterhenn said. “My favorite part about practice is getting to play with my teammates once again and seeing the improvement over the offseason.”

Though tough, the players are agreed that the spring break practices are very beneficial in getting the team back into playing shape and skill. “It sets the tone for the season,” senior goalkeeper Aaron Iehl said. “We could be relaxing and enjoying spring break on a beach, but we don’t want to be outworked, so we use that time to get better.”

Expectations are high for the team this year. “We are expecting to go to State and win at State,” Iehl said. “It has never been done before, so we are trying to take the program to another level that it has not seen.”

Steffy echoed Iehl’s remarks. “We have very positive outlook. We return eight starters from last year and have a great mix of young players to add to the senior heavy class this season,” Steffy said. “If we can continue the focus we started the season off with, we will do great things this season — things that the CF soccer program has not done in many years.”

The first game is set for March 31 at 4 p.m. at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex in Waterloo.