The Bishop Fenwick boys soccer team is coming into the 2020 season with a talented, speedy roster and a determination to make some noise in the Catholic Central League. And with the new rule changes put into place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that combination just may result in a lot of wins.
“It’s going to be a different kind of game this season,” said Fenwick head coach Tony Enos, now in his fourth season. “Without body contact and things like that, the game will be much more about ball movement and passing. With our team speed, we’re hoping that we’ll be able to exploit some things and get some good scoring opportunities.”
The Crusaders had a solid season in 2019, going 12-5-4 and earning the No. 7 seed in the Division 4 North tournament. Despite falling to Manchester-Essex in the quarterfinal, Enos knows his team had a good run in 2019.
“We had a great season last year with a really solid group,” said Enos. “The unfortunate thing for us last year was that we had very little depth, so once the injuries hit we really couldn’t come back from it.”
Coming into 2020, Fenwick has lost eight seniors to graduation — six of them starters.
“It’s going to be a big hole to fill for sure, those were some great players we lost,” said Enos.
But still, the Crusaders have a strong core returning this season. Led by a quartet of senior captains in Liam Foley, Aidan Dwyer, TJ Genzale and Andrew Perry as well as junior veterans Keiron Murray and Sean Campbell, Fenwick plans to use its No. 1 team trait — speed — to its advantage.
Fenwick has been drilling down on using its speed during practices, trying to play a bit more of a kick-and-chase game as opposed to a possession game like it normally does. The Crusaders also got in a couple of scrimmages — one against the Fenwick girls and one against a local club team — and have one more planned for Thursday against Salem.
“Our practices have been really helpful and the scrimmages have been great because we’ve been able to get a lot of feedback from the referees and we’re getting an idea of how the games are going to be called,” said Enos. “The main thing for us in this preseason is just getting used to the rules and how to play with them.”
The Crusaders open up their 2020 season Saturday afternoon (4) against Bishop Feehan.
“To be honest, I really don’t know what to expect out there,” said Enos. “We’ve never played Feehan, so we’ll probably come out with a conservative gameplan to start while we figure out how they’re going to play us. We’ve some speed and some guys who can put the ball in the net, so we’re going to see if we can make some plays Saturday.”
