Season Preview: North Platte Boy’s Soccer

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Last season the North Platte Boy’s Soccer Team went 5-12. In 2022 the Dawgs had a fairly young team. According to Head Coach Danny Whitney, the Dawgs welcome back another small core group of Juniors and Seniors.

But despite the smaller numbers of upperclassmen returning, the team brings back an experienced group of Sophomores that saw extensive Varsity minutes during their Freshmen Year.

“A bunch of guys that were freshmen last year and sophomores this year that can honestly be leaders for us, even though they’re younger guys. So rather than it just being a few individuals, I think it’s about just putting the puzzle together and being the best that we can be with the group that we have,” says Whitney.

The Dawgs kick off their season on Saturday, March 18th with a tournament in York. Then the following week the action really starts to pick up for the Dawgs as they welcome Kearney to town, and then make the trip out to Omaha for two games.

Whitney and his team will take the season one game at a time, but they do hope to have the puzzle pieced together come the mid-way point of the season which is marked for North Platte by a tournament in Norfolk.

So what will the identity of this year’s North Platte Boy’s Soccer Team be? Whitney says it’s about being ready to compete at any time and anywhere.

“Right now it’s that we’ll play anybody, anywhere, anytime, under any conditions. These guys went through a lot last year, especially as I was talking about our younger guys who would sometimes play an entire half of JV and then come and play a full varsity game. As freshmen, they weren’t scared or intimidated by any of that, so I think we bring that identity with us this year. With the way that our schedule is, sometimes the bigger conferences can kind of dictate when we play and where, I think our identity needs to be anytime, any place, under any conditions we’re willing to go out there and see what our best is,” explains Whitney.

Copyright 2023 KNOP. All rights reserved.