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All-Area Boys soccer
All-Area Boys Soccer: Essig player of year
The senior forward is The Journal's boys soccer player of the year.
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By John Bombatch,
Staff Writer
Updated 8:28 AM Monday, November 23, 2009
MONROE — To say Monroe senior forward Jake Essig had a great soccer year would be an understatement. The 2009 Middletown Journal Player of the Year had one of the best seasons around as he helped lead the Hornets to an undefeated regular season and a 14-1-3 record overall.
“He had a great season,” said first-year Monroe coach Mike Oster. “With 24 goals this season and four assists for a total of 52 points, it’s very rare that you have a kid who comes up with a point total like that. A season like the one he had only comes around every now and then.”
Essig also received Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division co-Player of the Year honors and was named to the all-Miami Valley Division II first team, as voted upon by the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association.
QUESTION: Has this been one of your better years as a soccer player, or is this a typical season for you?
ANSWER: It’s definitely the best year I’ve had so far. I’ve had the most goals I’ve scored anyway. I think I’ve really developed as a player through the years, and it’s all paid off this season.
QUESTION: Was the season’s success a surprise to you?
ANSWER: As a team, I’ve been a teammate with guys like Nick Braden, Bobby Beagle, Zac Eckert and Nick Striebick for a long time, and with the addition of coaches Mike Oster and Tim Ross this season in their first years with the team, I just think we were able to put it all together.
QUESTION: Coach Oster has described you as a “Penalty Box Predator.” How do you describe your playing style?
ANSWER: I’m not the kind of player who is going to blow anyone away with my skills or speed, but I guess I’m very solid in all parts of the game. And coach is right, I am pretty good in the penalty box. I have a knack for being able to get up for head balls and volleys. We went with four defenders, four midfielders and two strikers this season, and I was the trailing striker. Nick Braden would be the lead striker. He’d get the ball first and look for me to get open. That’s a big reason why I was so successful this year, especially in scoring. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.
QUESTION: What was your best moment this season?
ANSWER: Going undefeated through the regular season was a nice accomplishment for us. And to play two of the top-10 teams in the state. That was a nice accomplishment for both me and my teammates.
QUESTION: Do you play any other sports?
ANSWER: I used to play baseball, but I quit in order to give more of an effort to soccer. I think I made the right decision. It’s definitely paid off this season. I’ll probably play tennis this year. That will depend on how things go with my club soccer team that I’m on. If I don’t have any injuries, I’ll be playing tennis.
QUESTION: How many years have you been playing soccer now?
ANSWER: I’ve been playing since I was four, and I’m 17 so ... 13!
QUESTION: What’s your favorite part of playing soccer?
ANSWER: I just love everything about the game. It’s a big part of my life. I like everything about it. From scoring, to winning. It’s something that will always be a part of me.
QUESTION: Athletes have their superstitions that they have when getting ready for a game. Do you have any?
ANSWER: Yeah. I wear a yellow shirt under my soccer jersey. It can be snowing out, or 100 degrees, and I’ll have a yellow shirt on under my jersey. That’s just something I have to do.
QUESTION: Do you have a pre-game routine as well?
ANSWER: I just try to eat healthy at least a couple days before a match, so I don’t cramp up on game day. I think about the team’s goals and my personal goals before a game, and I like to talk with my teammates. That’s pretty much how I like to get ready for a game.
QUESTION: So is a college soccer career in your future?
ANSWER: I definitely want to go and play in college, I’m just undecided where. I hope to major in physical education, because I’d like to be a coach some day. Xavier, Findlay, Indiana Wesleyan and Defiance are some of the schools I’m looking at. I hope to find somewhere that will offer me a scholarship of some kind so that my parents won’t have to pay too much.
QUESTION: You’re named the SWBL Buckeye co-player of the year, and you were on the Miami Valley D-II South first team. Where does this award fit in to all that?
ANSWER: It means a lot to me. I’ve lived in Monroe my whole life, and know a lot of people around here. It’s an honor to be selected the Middletown Journal’s Player of the Year. It might be more special than the other awards, because it’s a local award and it’s something for my family and friends to be excited about. I’m very honored by this.
GLANCE BOX
Player of the Year: Jake Essig, Senior forward, Monroe— Southwestern Buckeye League, Buckeye Division Co-Player of the Year. Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association first team Division II all-Miami Valley (Dayton) district selection.
First team
-- Tyler Brun, Senior midfielder, Lebanon — First team all-Greater Western Ohio Conference; First team OSSCA Division I all-Miami Valley;
-- Austin Majors, Senior midfielder, Middletown — First team all-Greater Miami Conference;
-- Zach Wise, Sophomore forward, Middletown Christian — First team all-Metro Buckeye Conference;
-- Mark Loh, Junior midfielder, Fenwick — First team all-Greater Cincinnati League; OSSCA all-Southwest (Cincinnati) district first team;
-- Drew Miller, junior goalkeeper, Fenwick — First team all-Greater Cincinnati League; OSSCA all-Southwest (Cincinnati) district first team;
-- Connor Ward, Junior midfielder, Springboro — First team all-GWOC South; First team OSSCA Division I all-Miami Valley;
-- Josh Witt, Senior midfielder, Valley View — First team OSSCA Division II all-Miami Valley South.
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