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Practice makes perfect

Senior-stacked Magicians front-runners for WDA soccer title

Alex Eisen/MDN Senior Isaac Kauffman (green) fends off junior Cody Burke (maroon) during a Minot High boys’ soccer practice Monday at the Optimist Soccer Complex.

Sprints, shooting drills and even some one-touch passing circles before practice got underway Monday at the Optimist Soccer Complex. If the Minot High School boys soccer team wants to improve on its fifth-place finish at state last season, then this is where it’s going to happen.

“I think we took away (from last year) that the intensity needs to be better at practice,” MHS senior forward JJ Johannsen said. “You play how you practice, so I think we have realized that it wasn’t quite good enough in practice. So, this year, we are really trying to pick up the intensity.”

Messing about isn’t an option, especially with 10 seniors on the roster looking for a fairytale conclusion to their high school careers. It’s now or never.

“We have to go out and prove ourselves every single day,” Minot coach Creighton Bachmeier said. “Show the state of North Dakota that we have put in a ton of time and what we are doing in Minot is special.”

The senior-laden Magicians want to find themselves in a position at the end of the season to be challenging for the program’s second-ever state title. The first being won over a decade ago in 2006.

The Magi were recently named the favorites to win the West Region title in the preseason coaches’ poll.

“We want to continue to build off what we did last year,” Bachmeier said. “We won two games at the state tournament to take fifth. I want to win three, and to win three you got to be a state champion. So, we are going to continue to keep that goal in mind and do everything that we can to prepare for that state tournament.”

Spearheading Minot’s attack this season will be seniors Johannsen and Avery Weishaar. Both were first team All-State selections last year.

Weishaar led the Magi in scoring with 11 goals and had 10 assists. While Johannsen wasn’t far behind with 10 goals and four assists. They combined for 63.6 percent of Minot’s 33 goals last season.

“Those guys are intelligent players, great with their feet, physically gifted and they put in a tremendous amount of time in the offseason,” Bachmeier said. “So, we are going to be leaning on those two seniors to drive the offense.”

The defense is loaded with five seniors looking to aid junior goalkeeper Jaden Francis.

Walter Markle is the lone freshman on the roster, but was a starter last year playing a variety of different positions in the midfield. Forward Noah Schmidt is the only sophomore.

“A lot of us have been practicing at club practices together,” Weishaar said. “So, I think we’ll have pretty good chemistry throughout the team.”

Bachmeier added: “I think there are some good younger players that are going to be pushing the older guys for spots. That just makes for a nice competitive in-house team. I’m excited about this group. I think there are some lofty expectations with these guys, but just because we are a year older doesn’t make you a year better.”

That brings us back to the importance of practice. It’s not just improving skills, fitness and plotting out tactics. It’s where the tone and culture of the team is established.

“Every day you got to come with the same mentality that you are going to win, and that you are going to compete,” Bachmeier said. “I think some guys come in thinking that matches could be easy and we have done this before. We got to change that mentality. This game in its nature is always going to be close. Whether you are dominating possession or dominating in shots, you can still walk away with a 1-0 loss.

“It’s been four years since I’ve been the head coach and we have slowly been trying to change that mindset and I think this group is catching on. But, we aren’t quite there yet though.”

They’ll have two months to get to that point before the state tournament. In the meantime, the journey begins today with a pair of games at the East-West Crossover in Jamestown. The Magi will play West Fargo to open the season at 11 a.m. and then will need to regroup quickly to face Fargo Davies at 2 p.m.

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.Alex Eisen/MDN Senior JJ Johannsen (white) attempts to block a shot from sophomore Noah Schmidt (green) during Monday's practice.

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