Beyond his years

Freshman student-athletes rarely earn the playing time or statistics to garner such accolades as all-conference or all-state, competing hard to even letter among a sea of upperclassmen.

But Sacred Heart’s Lakin Kehde broke the mold this season.

Kehde, a 5-foot-6 freshman, assumed a strong leadership role on this year’s 14-12 Gremlins team and played beyond his years.

“I knew coming in, he would be our main goal scorer, but I didn’t realize how good he would be as a freshman,” Sacred Heart coach Carlos McField said.

“As he went along, he progressed slowly and you could tell he was a freshman size-wise, but his talent shined and he had the right tools to succeed.”

Kehde’s talent and leadership earned him Kaysinger all-conference, all-district and all-region honors.

Most importantly, the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association selected him to the all-state second team.

“It was pretty exciting,” Kehde said. “It’s nice, but it’s not as important as the team winning and making it further into the season. That’s the ultimate goal, not the individual awards.”

Kehde’s inexperience rarely surfaced in the 76 minutes the freshman forward averaged each game. His quick-tempo style of play on the field appeared effortless, but he worked hard to get his teammates involved, leading the Gremlins with 11 assists.

Kehde’s contributions, though, were felt more in the scoring column. Kehde created opportunities for himself through his quickness and vision of the field.

Kehde frequently capitalized on the scoring opportunities, tying David Coffman’s school record of 34 goals in a season, nine of which were game-winning goals.

“He understands the game and he makes everyone around him better,” McField said. “He creates space for his teammates to get open and he finishes.

“The goals are going to come but it’s the goals he’ll set up for other players that make this team better and if he continues to score like he has along with getting his teammates even more involved, his play will elevate this team in the future.”

Kehde’s knack to find the seams and maneuver among opposing defenders helped the Gremlins reach the district semifinals, where their season ended with a 4-0 loss to St. Paul Lutheran.

Sacred Heart’s 4-2 conference finish gives McField hope of better things to come. He is looking for Kehde to step up the workload and guide the Gremlins to a conference championship next year and ultimately postseason success.

“It’s his team offensively and he’ll have to step up his work load in practice next year,” McField said.
 
“Once he does that, everyone around him will work harder and elevate their games.”

Kehde believes he can improve with a stronger work ethic on the field, coming back to the ball more frequently to run a quick attack on offense.

“Me and coach have talked about me getting even more involved,” Kehde said. “I’m going to do whatever he wants me to do. I’m going to be positive on the field and in practice, and I’m there to help my teammates get better. The ultimate goal is for us to get better as a team and win districts next year.”

McField recognizes that Kehde’s accomplishments reflect the team’s success.

“It’s always good for the team to have someone recognized as he was in terms of all-conference, all-district, all-region and second-team all-state,” McField said.

“It throws the school’s name out there and it’s up to the team to feed off his success and make it to the final four and win our conference. If we do that, we’ll get more people recognized for individual awards.”