Despite the fact Wauwatosa East lost 12 seniors to graduation - including Jordan Stein and Marty Schoen, both All-Greater Metro Conference performers, and Kevin Rorabeck, a second-team selection -coach Eric Dale has plenty of returning talent this year.
"This is going to be an exciting transitional year," Dale said. "We do return 10 very talented players, as well as a very promising batch of newcomers."
Senior Jackson Orin, a second team all-conference selection last year, and junior Bobby Russ, an honorable mention selection, led the batch of returnees from last year's 16-6 team, including a 3-4 league record. The team lost to Menomonee Falls in the regional final last year.
"Jackson and Bobby are returning starters who will serve as team captains this year," Dale said. "We expect them to be our coaches on the field, especially to our new varsity players."
Joining Orin and Russ are seniors Brandon Erny, Paul Robarge and Joey Hayes; juniors Calvin Mabie, Rick Behlmer and Matt Schmidt; and sophomores Ben Carpenter and Tyson Martens.
Varsity newcomers Dale is counting on include seniors Mike Lund, Peter Sternkopf and Chris Due; juniors Vince Prange, Martin Minix, Anthony Horn and Zach Petersen; sophomore Jake DeMots; and freshman Kyle Mabie.
The Red Raiders will play a tough schedule, which includes last year's state champion Muskego, two state qualifiers in Hartford and Arrowhead, and other traditionally strong teams in Homestead, Nicolet and Madison West.
"We posted a 13-1-1 record against teams outside of the GMC, which speaks volumes as to how competitive our conference is," Dale said.
"I'm convinced the group of guys we have this season are up for the challenge of a difficult schedule, as they now know after last season's success that they can compete with top-flight teams in Wisconsin."
East 2, Waukesha North 1
Orin and Calvin Mabie scored in the opening-match win Aug. 17 at Whitman Field.
Orin scored in the 10th minute on a direct free kick from about 30 yards out, as the ball deflected off the Waukesha North wall and snuck into the goal on the near post. After a Northstar foul just outside the penalty box, Erny served a beautiful cross into the box, which Mabie headed in from seven yards out on the near post for the winning goal.
East 4, Sheboygan South 0
On Aug. 19 at home the Raiders took the lead when Schmidt scored in the 34th minute on a pass from sophomore Ben Carpenter. Russ put the Raiders up 2-0 with a goal in the 40th minute with an assist from Robarge. In the second half, Mabie and Carpenter (Russ assist) closed out the scoring.
East 7, Winneconne 0
It was an early start time Saturday morning in Oshkosh for the Raiders, but they wasted no time making quick work of outmatched Winneconne as they throttled the Wolves 7-0 in the opener of the Oshkosh Invitational. Russ scored three goals to lead the attack (assists by DeMots, Martens), Carpenter had two goals and Hayes (Martens assist) and DeMots (Minix assist) had the rest.
East 3, Oshkosh West 2
In the championship game of Pool B play, the Red Raiders improved their overall record to 4-0 with a physical win over the Oshkosh West Wildcats. Carpenter scored first with an assist from Hayes in the 29th minute, but Oshkosh tied the game seven minutes later for a 1-1 halftime score.
The Raiders came out with some fire in the second half, scoring two goals within four minutes of each other. Orin scored after receiving a drop-off pass from Russ. In the 48th minute, Orin again stepped up to deliver a huge assist, setting up Carpenter with his second goal of the game and a 3-1 lead.
The only negative was the loss of DeMots with a broken collar bone in the final minutes.
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