Stover coach lauded as Kaysinger's best

After leading Stover to a 16-6 record and a 3-1 league mark, Bulldogs head soccer coach Roy Poynter was selected as Kaysinger Conference coach of the year.

“Any time your peers vote you an honor like that, it is very special,” Poynter said.

Poynter thought any one of the Kaysinger coaches could have merited the honor. He voted for Sacred Heart coach Carlos McField.

“He has an outstanding team,” Poynter said. “Our group of soccer coaches has always been a close-knit group and are very supportive of each other. We have a lot of respect for each other.”

Highlighted by first-team selections Alex Cline, Brent Gerke, Lakin Kehde, Chris Pottorff, Wes Register and Jon Starke, Sacred Heart had the most all-conference selections, as picked by the conference coaches. Bradley O’Connor received an honorable mention.

“I think they all deserved it,”McField said. “We won conference, we won the tournament, and to get six players (on the) first team and one honorable mention just proves other coaches in the league thought our players were deserving.”

Stover followed up with six selections. Nick Ortiz, Justin Rasa, Jesse Sack, Andy Seaton and Tyler Wilson earned first-team all-conference honors while Trevor Nolting earned honorable mention.

“These guys were able to be as good as they are because they had very good players supporting them” Poynter said. “Soccer is a team sport and we had an excellent season because we played well together as a team. I’m very proud of the players that are all-conference but I am also proud of our entire team.”

Smithton, which lost to Sacred Heart in the district semifinal, was represented by five athletes. Adam Wagenknecht, Tyler Miyashiro, Neal Mathews and Benjamin Calvert were picked first-team all-conference and Sean Loomis was selected honorable mention.

La Monte also had five selections. Logan Austin, Ray Barajas, Martin Garcia and Austin Shull earned first-team all-conference and teammate Jose Martinez was selected honorable mention.

Cole Camp followed up with three selections: Riley Henning, Ron Herdman and Zac Haverly as first-team all-conference, along with Trevor LaClair as honorable mention.

Green Ridge closed out the group with Zac Haverly picked for first-team all-conference and Weston Bailey selected as honorable mention.