ONW v.s. SMNW Regional Soccer Highlights

Results and Stats

9/2 – ONW v.s. Blue Valley Southwest—-Sam Howell & Sam Thomas 1 goal, L, 2-3, 

9/3 – ONW v.s. Shawnee Mission Northwest—-Sam Howell 1 goal, L in PKs, 1-1

9/4 – ONW v.s. Ray Pec—-Sam Thomas, John Hickman, and Jack Cashman 1 goal, W, 3-0

9/11 – ONW v.s. Saint James—-Sam Howell and Sam Thomas 1 goal, W, 2-1 (OT)

9/13 – ONW v.s. Wichita East—-Sam Howell 2 goals, W, 2-0

9/16 – ONW @ Lawrence—-Tie, 0-0 

9/18 – ONW v.s. Leavenworth—-John Hickman 3 goals, John Varela 2 goals, Connor Jokerst, Sam Howell, Griffin King 1 goal, W, 8-0

9/23 – ONW v.s. Olathe South—-L, 0-1

9/25 – ONW @ Free State—-Sam Howell and Christian Haley 1 goal, W, 2-1

9/30 – ONW v.s. Shawnee Mission West—-Jack O’Brien, Sam Thomas, Jack Cashman 1 goal, W, 3-1

10/2 – ONW v.s. Shawnee Mission South—-Jack O’Brien and John Varela 1 goal, W, 2-0

10/7 – ONW v.s. Shawnee Mission Northwest—-Sam Howell and Griffin King 1 goal, Tie, 2-2

10/9 – ONW @ Shawnee Mission North—-Tie, 0-0

10/14 – ONW v.s. Olathe North—-Sam Howell 3 goals, Josh Varela 2 goals, W, 5-1

10/21 – ONW v.s. Shawnee Mission East—Jack O’Brien 1 goal, L, 2-1 (OT)

End of regular season 

Postseason Results:

10/27 – Regional Playoffs – ONW v.s. Shawnee Mission West

Overall Record – 8-5-3

Goal Count:

Sam Howell – 11 Goals

Josh Varela – 7 Goals

John Hickman – 4 Goals

Jack O’Brien – 4 Goals

Sam Thomas – 3 Goals

John Cashman – 2 Goals

Griffin King – 1 Goal

Christian Haley – 1 Goal

Connor Jokerst – 1 Goal

Ravens Qualify for Regionals

The Raven Soccer team finished the regular season with a positive record of 8-5-3 overall, qualifying for regionals. Senior Sam Howell lead the ravens in scoring with 11 goals, while John Varela had 7 and John Hickman had 4, coming in 2nd and 3rd.

The ravens had a rough start to the season, starting out 0-3 but quickly turned things around winning the last 8 out 12 games of the season. During the season, the ravens crushed their arch rival, Olathe North, during the season, obliterating them 5-1 and their best game of the season came against Leavenworth, dismantling them 8-0. In the third game of the season, the ravens loss in a heartbreaker, losing in PK’s (which is equivalent to OT) to Shawnee Mission Northwest. The varsity squad was lucky to be very healthy this year with only one major setback with Jack O’Brien suffering a hamstring injury, missing 2-3 weeks.The soccer team had a major improvement from last year where they finished with a losing record.

The ravens first game of the postseason is next monday where the date and opponent is to yet to be determined. Now qualifying for regionals, things get more intense for the soccer team where its win or go home.

Soccer Head Coach, Chris Graham

Coach Graham was named the head coach for both the men’s and women’s programs at Olathe Northwest High School in 2008.  Prior to accepting the position at ONW, he served as the head coach at Spring Hill High School, opening both the mens’ and womens’ programs.  Coach Graham has served as the assistant varsity coach at Olathe Northwest for four years, helping to open that program as well in 2003.  From 2000-2003 he served as an assistant on staff at Olathe East High School.  Coach Graham is Nationally Licensed by the USSF, a diploma recipient and a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and has served on staff with the Kansas Olympic Development Program.  His wife, Krista, is an elementary school counselor in Olathe.  They have 2 children, a daughter (Addison) born in 2004 and a son Mason born in 2008.

Preseason Perspective: Boy's Soccer

Last year’s record: We finished the regular season last year 8-8 and then lost to SMNW in playoffs to end up 8-9.

Key Match ups: That obviously starts with the other three Olathe schools.  Outside of Olathe, the rest of the Sunflower League provides such strong competition that every game is a key match-up for us.

Key Players: Our senior class is going to be extremely important for us this year with their leadership and their experience at this level.  Our seniors are Sam Howell, Sam Thomas, Jack O’Brien, Josh Varela, John Hickman, Christian Haley, Matt Wilkinson, and Jack Holmgren.

Seniors: Sam Howell, Sam Thomas, Jack O’Brien, Josh Varela, John Hickman, Christian Haley, Matt Wilkinson, and Jack Holmgren.

Key Newcomers: Connor Jokerst, Chris Cotton, Jack Cashman, Logan Elmer, Jack Holmgren

What do you expect from your team this season differently from the last?

We had a hard time fielding a consistent starting 11 last year due to injuries and other things that we going on.  I expect this year to be much different in the sense that within this group, I expect every one of our 17 players to contribute significant minutes every game this season, and hopefully we can be more consistent with who is available to try and build chemistry throughout the season.

What do you need to do as a coach to help your team be successful?

To help us be successful, I need to make sure that I, along with our entire staff, is working hard to train and prepare the boys in a way that allows them to be as successful as possible.  We want to provide an environment that pushes the boys to compete daily, and to help them develop confidence in each other.

Is there something about this team that seperates them from any teams you’ve coached in the past?

In previous years, there have been times where I haven’t necessarily known how much certain players would contribute right away at the Varsity level.  My expectation for these 17 guys is that every player will have a significant impact for us to be as successful as I think we can be.

What have you done differently to prepare for this season versus last season?

We took a group to St. Louis this year for a summer tournament to allow us the chance to build some chemistry and play together prior to the start of the season.  We also relied more on our seniors this summer to lead certain off-season workouts.

What key games do you see on the roster as a challenge to your team?

All of our league opponents are a challenge, and with our involvement in the Olathe Tournament, it presents another 3 very challenging games on our schedule.

Player Feature: Matt Wilkinson

Matt Wilkinson, senior, is a starting varsity player for the Olathe Northwest Soccer Team. He plays central defender, and has been on varsity the past three years. He is an all-around athlete for he is also on the varsity raven track squad and is rivaling the school record in the 400 meter run. Matt Wilkinson has high hopes on his soccer team this upcoming season;

“We’re more of a team this year, we collaborate better than last year’s team.”

Part of Wilkinson’s high hopes on this season is due to the fact that he believes in Coach Graham

“I think he’s a great coach, he knows how to put everyone in their positions and knows how to get us fired up for the game.”

Part of Wilkinson’s contribution to the team is that is greatest strength is when his team is down and takes over games;

“I think my greatest strengths is when I’m in the air.” Air meaning dribbling, punting, and headhunting the ball.

Like most players, Matt’s hope and dream is to play in college and then professionally;

“I hope to play in college but i’m not for sure.”

His style of play and player he likes most is Paris Saint-Germain player, Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Olathe Northwest Soccer Highlights 9/25/14

Q&A with Griffin King

Griffin King, a first year varsity player, is one of 6 sophomores currently on the ONW varsity soccer team. He brings speed and versatility to the varsity soccer squad. He has high hopes on this years soccer team.

What position do you play?

I play forward.

What motivates you to be a better soccer player?

Reaching my potential and hoping to go college and to go pro.

Where did you first start playing soccer?

I first started playing for a recreational soccer team in my neighborhood. 

What have you personally improved on?

The speed of the game and being on varsity.

How do you think the team will progress from here?

Over the past ten games we have gotten better each game.

How has coach Graham helped your team to become more competitive?

He really sees what potential we have to help motivate us to know what to do from what he says.

Do you or your team have any pre-game rituals?

We have a pump up mixtape video that we watch and we also have a special warmup that we go through.

What are your greatest hopes and fears for this season?

We would like to go over 500 and hopefully win state and our greatest fear is not making the playoffs.