Fun is the name of the game.
First-year Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ soccer head coach Dan Rudolph wants his team to have some fun this fall.
“They should enjoy practices, they should enjoy game day — just have a positive experience,” said Rudolph, who spent the past five years as Hingham’s JV coach.
Rudolph also wants his group, which finished 2-14-2 last fall, to play competitive soccer. Part of that is learning from your mistakes, especially in a tough Patriot League.
“We all agreed on and promised each other that we know we’re going to face adversity this season, playing against some good teams,” Rudolph said. “But we’re a good team too and we all agreed when we do come up against some adversity, we’re going to come out the next day and try to come up with some solutions with some of the things we can improve upon. We’re going to be resilient all season. There’s going to be some challenges, but we’re going to embrace them.”
Rudolph lauded his group of seniors (Andrew Chichlowski, Chase Fostello, Jack Navicky, Manny Osorio, Jackson Preskins and Devin Walsh) for leading the charge in that mindset.
“We have a great group of senior leaders,” Rudolph said. “I’ve seen leadership from people in all different classes. All these kids are going to make contributions.”
As for who is going to be contributing to the Panthers’ offense this season, Rudolph said he believes the goal scoring will come from a bevy of sources.
“We’re a team,” Rudolph said. “We’re going to get goals from a lot of different people.”
Down the other end, sophomore Dillon Galanis takes over in net for Andrew Sullivan.
W-H is back on the pitch Thursday, Sept. 15 at 4 p.m. when it visits Plymouth South.
“We’re a good team,” Rudolph said. “I hope to see exciting, great soccer. I think there’s potential here and we have hard working kids. These guys are going to go hard.
“We already know there’s going to be some tough games but we’re coming out the next day and we’re going to be better. We’re in it for the long haul.”