PENDLETON — The Pendleton Heights boys soccer team roster is senior heavy this year but also dotted with some new faces, and coach Kyle Davy is happy about the possibilities for the Arabians.
The mix of veterans and newcomers has been a good blend.
The Arabians head into the latter part of the season with a 7-3-1 mark and 3-1 record in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. The lone league loss was a heart-breaking 1-0 overtime defeat at the hands of first-place Greenfield-Central.
Some of the senior force includes Justin Overfield at goalkeeper, Kai Moore, Alex Nelson, Connor Hendrickson and Daniel Aker at defense.
Senior Myles Mitchem will return from injury as well as senior Brennan Jones, and Davy is excited to have the two back in the lineup.
They are the teams top two goal scorers. Jones leads with eight and Mitchem has scored seven.
Davy said he believes one of the Arabians’ strengths this year will be in the attack to make the quick scores.
“We want to come out strong and score those goals early and get into the flow of the game,” Davy said.
With so many players, Davy will be able to adjust and fill the slots on the field with many players sharing time.
Like the Arabians, several of the teams in the HHC are senior heavy with experience this season.
“It will be a battle in each game and a dogfight to get that top spot,” Davy said.
The Arabians expect to find that out again tonight (Thursday), playing host to Mt. Vernon. The Marauders are right behind the Arabians in the HHC standings with a 3-2 league record.
Including tonight’s match with Mt. Vernon, Pendleton Heights has just three conference games remaining. The Arabians take on second-place Shelbyville (8-4-2, 5-1) at home Tuesday, Oct. 1 and travel to last-place New Palestine (1-9-1, 0-6) on Thursday, Oct. 3, the final match of the regular season.
Pendleton Heights saw no changes to its sectional in Class 3A. They are in the brackets with area powerhouses, such as Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and Noblesville, but that’s OK, according to Davy.
“We can compete in that sectional,” Davy said. “To be the best, you have to beat the best, and we are more than capable.”
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Pendleton Heights boys soccer
Senior
Daniel Aker D
Vincent Barth MF
Matt Cole FB/D
Danner Frasier MF/D
Blaker Haller —
Maverick Hamilton MF
Connor Hendrickson MF
Connor Hendrickson D
Brennan Jones —
Miles Mitchem —
Kai Moore D
Alex Nelson D
Justin Overfield GK
Robbie Reynolds F/MF
Levi Rodriguez F/MF
Shawn Strickland STK
Juniors
Zion Cook F
Austin Cummings D/FB
Justin Delk MF/F
Tim Fout D
Clayton Sherer FB/D
Caleb Spires MF
Sophomores
Bryce Axel-Adams MF
Grant Koperczak FB/D
Cannon McClain D/MF
Luke Mills MF/F
Williams Philips GK
Matthew Roark MF/D
Devan Swinford F/STK
Mohamed Traore F/STK
Freshmen
Alex Begley GK
Cole Bubalo MF/
Keegan Gephart D/MF
Colin Haggan MF
Kam Kail MF
Parker Suchyna MF/F
Aaron Woodyard MF
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