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MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Blacksburg High School soccer coach Shelley Blumenthal (right) talks to his players during practice on the artificial turf field next to Thompson Field and Lane Stadium at Virginia Tech. The Bruins lost only two starters off last year's squad, including Alistair Moore, who plays at Tech.

The Roanoke Times | File June

Radford High School soccer players J Clark (left) and William Saunders celebrate Clark's second-half goal during last season's Group A state semifinals. Clark returns for his senior season and will lead the Bobcats up front.

| Roger Gonzalez

Special to The Roanoke Times

It was the same story last year for the Blacksburg High boys soccer team.

The Bruins won their 10th state title and ninth under coach Shelley Blumenthal.

And the Bruins will be looking to add another championship to the collection in 2010.

The Bruins lost only two starters off last year's squad, including Alistair Moore, who plays at Virginia Tech.

After last season's tournament run, during which many young players got playing time, those young men will be looked upon to lead this storied program as it faces a brutal schedule.

Blacksburg will open up March 20 against Virginia Beach's Frank W. Cox High School in Roanoke.

"We are really challenging ourselves with an extraordinary schedule," Blumenthal said.

In the starting 11, the Bruins will look for Jackson Rankin to lead the defense. Several midfield players will be looked upon for contributions, including Michael Mecham and Dehmah Smith.

But Blumenthal doesn't see this as a team with a few stars who carry the entire squad.

"It's not about one player or two players," Blumenthal said. "It's about Blacksburg being a team."

Blacksburg will take it slow and focus on improving throughout the season.

"We know how important it is," Blumenthal said. "If we are fortunate enough to win the regular season district championship, then we open up a lot of opportunities."

Those at Blacksburg should be excited about the potential of this team, the coach said.

"It's going to depend on us defending. Overall team defending is going to have to improve," he said. "We have a lot of tradition and our kids will want to uphold that tradition."

Also around the area

n Coach Pete Johnson enters his fourth year at Christiansburg aiming to see how his team can improve from a less than stellar '09 season.

Having played semiprofessional soccer in England, Johnson is trying to instill the principles of the game that he has learned to the players on Christiansburg's team.

The Demons are led by defender John Overton, a strong player leading the back line.

Offensively, Christiansburg has the potential to be very solid.

Carl Leist will be playing at attacking midfield, hoping to get balls forward to create scoring opportunities.

n Pulaski County will look to reload for a strong 2010 campaign.

Last season, the Cougars reached the region quarterfinals but will have to improve drastically to make it back.

The Cougars return only three starters from last year's squad. Missing from the team is all-state midfielder Daniel Turpin, who graduated.

Justin Cook returns in goal and Dustin Bain will be the leader of the midfield.

After losing both starting forwards, coach Mike Price will turn to a committee of forwards to take over, including Ethan Walters, Steve Alley and newcomer Beni Ponto.

Ponto, an exchange student from Germany, brings his knowledge of the game and aggressive style to boost the Cougars front line.

n In Radford, the Bobcats search for a title in 2010.

After losing in the state final 1-0 to George Mason last season, Radford will look to return with the hope of a better result,

This year, forward J Clark, who returns for his senior season, will lead the Bobcats up front. Taka Masuda and Michael Farmer will be the main contributors in the midfield.

Masuda is moving to the midfield to boost Radford's offense after having played defense last season.

The recovery of the midfield and the pace in which they get forward will be key for Radford.

Coach Greg Wade already has two state titles under his belt.

n At Giles, the Spartans are going to need Tanner Gorrell to continue to be a consistent scorer up front.

With Giles losing Cody Journell, Travis Scott and James Geayea, who combined for 41 goals last season, Gorrell will need to find his scoring touch for Giles to return to the region tournament.

The Spartans are loaded with underclassman and lost eight starters off last year's squad.

The player who will have to feed balls to Gorrell will be Ryan Shelor, who is moving to center-mid from outside-mid.

Goalie John Fields has been out injured and the Spartans hope he can return at some point this season as they try to catch Radford.

n Narrows will be an experienced team looking for offensive firepower.

The Green Wave is counting on experience from last year making this squad better.

With only four seniors on the team, the Green Wave will be looking to Jacob Taylor and Nick Snyder to carry the load in the midfield.

Up front, the main target will be the strong striker Cody Hollie, who will get the chance to be the focal point of the offense.

The defense should be the strength of this team, led by Alex Reed and Dakota Strong.

If the team can connect around the field from the defense to the forwards, Narrows has the potential to pose a threat, especially with Hollie up front.

n At Auburn, the Eagles will be hoping to develop team chemistry in order to make some noise.

Coach Jackie McCarthy will turn to forward Aurelio Limon to provide the scoring firepower needed.

Veteran goalie Chris Cox will be key for the Auburn defense.

In front of Cox will be stout defender Bradley Jones, who will control the back line for the Eagles.

n After arriving three months ago from the African nation of Ghana, coach Niinoi Tetteh will look to bring a different style of soccer to Floyd County.

The new coach is creating quite the buzz among the students at Floyd, as many are taking notice of his knowledge for the game and enthusiasm on the field.

This season the Buffaloes will be led by Nelson Morales and seven returning players, including as Patrick Grady and Jacob Smith.

Floyd County hopes its midfield players will contribute offensively and defensively so they can develop into an elite group in the middle of the pitch.

Tetteh hopes to bring a different culture of soccer to Floyd with the hopes of each player improving and creating a formidable squad.