New Coach Hopes To Bring New Life This Soccer Season

Team Is Young, But Enthusiastic

Head Coach Brian Immekus is looking forward to beginning the new soccer season. This is his first season as the head coach. Immekus was previously the assistant coach and took over after Bill Kackley’s retirement. Immekus has taught in Sullivan since 2015 and joined the coaching staff as the assistant during the same year.

“I’m very proud of the program we’ve built in Sullivan,” said Coach Immekus. “I’m most excited about getting the opportunity to build on what we’ve started and ultimately winning the first district championship in our program’s history.”

Immekus is confident going into the 2022 season and knows that his young team will prevail after a record of 11-10-1.

“We’ve held voluntary open fields at the high school throughout July,” Coach Immekus said with excitement. “I’ve been very pleased with our turnout and dedication to our team and getting better individually. It takes time to get your body right for a high school soccer season, so seeing our players dedicated to preparing for the season is super exciting!”

Coach Immekus is in positive spirits about the upcoming season.

“The most positive thing I’m seeing from our group is that the young core of players we’re bringing in shows a lot of potential,” said Coach Immekus enthusiastically. “Not only am I seeing talent, skill, and athleticism from our underclassmen, but it’s also a group that has great character and work ethic. Those traits bode well for our present and future.”

Sullivan looks to be small but mighty.

“Our strengths will lie with our upperclassmen,” continued Coach Immekus. “It’s a small group, unfortunately, but they are a special group of young men who are so anxious to lead our young players. Having a culture that is positive and nurturing is so important for a young team. On the field we’ll have some experienced players on the back line and lots of speed on the outside and up front that will hopefully create some quick strike scoring opportunities.”

The Eagles will have a young team this year and with a young team will be a set of challenges.

“We’ll have a very young team with few underclassman, so our biggest hurdle in August will be getting the young pieces to fit into the right positions and implementing a system that best suits the skill level of our players,” Coach Immekus continued. “We have a lot of work to do in that regard. First and foremost, however, whenever you’re dealing with a young team, fundamentals and skill work are the most important things to focus your practices around, so we have a lot of big rocks in the preseason.”

Sullivan’s soccer season will look a little different without a conference to play in.

“Our expectations are not going to be measured in wins/losses this year,” warned Coach Immekus. “We don’t have a conference (St. Clair dropped their boys soccer program), so we’re not shooting for a conference championship. Our season will be a success if we see a team that grows and improves throughout the season and is peaking at the end before district play begins. We’ve had some extremely difficult draws in districts the last few years, and I don’t expect any different this season. We need to be ready to compete come district time.”

The soccer season won’t be the tradition Sullivan is used to without a conference.

“Pacific and Union will both be very good this year, but they aren’t teams we’ll be competing with come district time,” said Coach Immekus. “So that is definitely different. The teams we’ll watch most closely this season are the teams we’ll be matched up with districts, and we won’t know that until August 26.”

Even though Sullivan has a young team, they still will have some top returning players.

“Our juniors are Max Avery, Wyatt Kraus, and Dock Thomure,” Coach Immekus finished with. “Our sophomores are Zachariah Beagle and Eli Peregoy. Avery and Kraus will be rock solid defenders for us with the ability to move up and down the field. Thomure is probably our best ball handler and will man the middle for us this season. Beagle is our top returning scorer who provides a lot of speed outside or up front and has the ability to create offense instantly. Peregoy will be our most versatile player, whom I will rely on in different roles due to his ability to both create offense and play strong defense.”

Beagle recorded eight goals, 19 shots, 17 points, and one assist last season. Thomure finished with four goals, eight shots, nine points, and one assist. Kraus had four shots, two assists, and two points. Avery made two shots.