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Cottonwood

Mingus boys soccer team sidesteps expectations

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There is a good chance that the Mingus Union High School boys soccer team will score a lot of goals this season. The only question is, how many goals will they give up?

With all of their top scorers returning from last year’s team, first-year Marauders head coach Calvin Behlow feels very certain about the strength of his team’s offense. It’s the defensive side of the field he’s concerned about.

The Marauders lost three starting defenders and their starting goalkeeper to graduation. Plus, head coach Cade Densmore, who was primarily a defensive coach, moved on as well.

“I think we can score some goals, but my fear is that we don’t score enough,” Behlow said. “On some teams if you score one goal you’ve got enough, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case with us.

“Soccer’s a quirky game: You give up a goal early and suddenly they’ve got 10 people in the box trying to keep you from scoring, and it’s really hard to score in a 20-foot goal with 10 people standing right next to you.”

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Behlow, who has coached soccer for seven years at Mingus, said he has his top two strikers returning from last year’s team in Christian Escobar and Jahir Jacobo.

“Escobar was the leading scorer last year,” Behlow said. “He has one of the strongest legs I’ve ever seen.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Nov. 27, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.

Jeff Bear

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