High school soccer season is almost here. The new year begins Monday, Aug. 10, in Kentucky and Friday, Aug. 14, in Ohio.
Here are some teams to watch in boys soccer this season based on information from coaches.
Elder
Elder returns five key seniors for head coach Eric Rothwell. The Panthers were 7-8-4 last season.
Midfielder Owen Rothwell had seven assists last year, second in the Greater Catholic League-South. Owen Schwarz had 4.5 shutouts.
Midfielder Carson Prewitt, forward Hudson Ostertag and defender Jaxson Poulos also return. Junior midfielders Brady Ernst and Luke Stienriede, and junior defender Carson Moehring are also experienced returners.
“I’m excited about this group because of who they’ve become throughout the offseason, not because of anything they’ve accomplished yet,” Rothwell said. “They’ve bought into our culture, invested in one another, and shown a commitment to improving every single day.”
Harrison
The Wildcats were 11-5-4 and Division II district champions, losing to state runner-up Kings in the regional semifinals.
Head coach Connor McCurley returns eight starters and 13 total players. Most of the roster is juniors and seniors plus promising sophomores Rylan Murphy and Nate Mirizzi.
Senior captain Hayden Carter returns in goal after posting nine shutouts. Senior captain Carson Koehl leads the defense at midfielder. Junior Luke Davis and Chase Wagner lead the offense. They are returning all-city players. Junior forward Eli Gaffney and junior center back Harper Wagner also return.
McCurley still considers Kings the team to beat in the region but he has beefed up his team’s schedule to help them make the next step.
Kings
The Knights were 15-3-5, co-champions of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference and Division II state runner-up. They graduated most of their scoring from last year and all-state keeper Brody Sucher.
Madeira
The Mustangs were 13-6-3 last season and advanced to the regional finals. They graduated 11 seniors but have 13 returning this season for head coach Amy Dyer.
They have some strong offensive players returning in seniors Martin Cowden and Alessandro Caggioni, and juniors Andrew Cornejo and Jean Luc Davis.
Senior Michael O’Cull mans the net. Cole Cunningham is the top returning defensive player, and Jake Wetzel is a sophomore to watch.
Mariemont
The Warriors were 17-3-1 last season.
Seniors Aidan Gross, Cole Gross, Santino Serger and Henry Brown lead the offense. Aidan Gross was an all-state selection after 16 goals and 13 assists. Head coach Erik Vanags considers him one of the best attacking players he’s coached in his 30 years.
Serger had 15 goals and eight assists and Brown nine goals and three asissts.
Senior Thomas Harp anchors the defense. He was an all-city and Vanags calls him one of the best center backs he’s coached. He contributed three goals and three assists.
Junior Dane Center takes over in goal. He shut out Division II state runner-up Kings in his only start last season.
Mason
The Comets were 14-1-3 and Greater Miami Conference champions, and will face some reloading, said head coach Garrett Szabo.
“We will be extremely young with very little varsity experience returning,” Szabo said. “Our aim will be to bring the same level of intensity and level of competition that Mason is known for while giving our core players the chance to continue developing and making the program proud.”
Junior Landon Miller is the top returning scorer with 10 goals and three assists last year. He scored against some of the city’s best teams.
Junior Tair Begzhan and sophomore Aldo Dokouzov should add scoring punch. Dokouzov scored 26 goals for the JV team last season.
Gleb Parker and Taichi Hayashida anchor the midfield and junior Camden Yost the defense.
Moeller
Moeller was 8-8-2 and graduates most of its goalscoring including all-state star Karson Lang. The Crusaders lost several underclassmen to club ball last year but some of those are reportedly coming back to the program heading into final tryouts.
Monroe
The Hornets were 12-4-2 for head coach Billy Gronostaj, who graudated his son, SWBL player of the year Caden Gronostaj, and eight other seniors, but returns several key players.
The top offensive players are senior midfielder Nic Noe, junior midfielder Glenn Neidlinger and sophomore forwards Landon Smallwood and Anthony Soltero. Smallwood started as a freshman and has speed, athleticism and versatility.
The defense is anchored by three senior co-captains in Easton Oborne, Owen Daniels-Day and Keevan Foster, who was an all-league honoree last season. Sophomore Andrew Kolp also returns on defense.
“(We enter) the season with a strong blend of experienced veteran leadership and a talented group of sophomores and juniors ready to step into significant starting roles,” Gronostaj said. “(We) return capable goalkeepers, a strong spine through the center of the field, and plenty of speed and quickness throughout the lineup. There will be new faces in important positions, but the standard and expectations remain the same: Monroe is reloading, not rebuilding.”
Summit Country Day
The Silver Knights will face a new challenge as they try to win a state championship for the third year in a row. They will move up to Division IV this season.
Anchoring the defense are senior Elijah Warner and junior Sam Viltro. The multi-talented Warner is a returning All-American and an all-state and all-district performer. He was Miami Valley Conference player of the year as well. Warner contributes on offense as well and has four career goals with five assists.
Viltro was an all-district and first-team all-league selection and has four career goals.
Juniors Forrest Cloran and Beckett Brinkman anchor the midfield. Cloran was an all-district selection. Brinkman has 11 career goals and 10 career assists.
Junior Isaiah Rodgers and senior Carter Lund are the top offensive threats. Lund scored three times in the 2025 state final and had 10 goals last year and 17 for his career. Rodgers has 11 career goals with eight assists.
“We return seven starters from last year’s team and we have some new faces that we are really excited about and that are anxious to step into the mix,” said head coach Scott Sievering. “I really like where we are in terms of talent and depth, but we have to stay healthy and come together as a unit. We always have big goals, but doing what is necessary (both on and off the field) to achieve them is the key to any successful season.”
Turpin
The Spartans lost 14 seniors from a team that went 16-2-4 and advanced to the Division III regional finals. Head coach Jamie Harloff returns some key players up the middle and will look for younger players to grow and develop.
Seniors Sam Harding and Ethan Brandhorst lead the offense after scoring nine goals apiece in 2025. Seniors Luke Turner, Austin Harding and Lucas Kelley anchor the defense. Kelley, the new starting goalkeeper and Harding both return to the program from club ball.
Williamsburg
The Wildcats are aiming for their first ever league title this season and head coach Quentin Winkler thinks they can do it. Williamsburg was 7-10 last year.
The top returners are Noah Gilbert, Devon Gregory, Mason Gregory and Kaleb Klopfstein. Gilbert was first-team all-league.
Winkler has two seniors and four juniors, and a lot of young talent on offense.
Northern Kentucky boys soccer teams
Bishop Brossart
Brossart was 16-8-1 for head coach Donny Bray. The Mustangs won the 10th Region championship and lost in the first round of the state tourney.
Top returning players are senior midfielder Ben Sweeney, senior forward Luke Neltner, senior keeper Ryan Eldridge, senior Defender Max Leuderalbert and junior defender Ben D’Allessandro. Neltner had 22 goals and 12 assists.
“I think we are in a good spot to pick up where we left off last year,” Bray said. “We have some great senior leadership coming back, a strong junior class, and some impressive young talent. We are very excited to get this season rolling.”
Covington Catholic
The Colonels hope to make another run at a state title after going 18-8-2 and falling in the state final last season. CovCath lost its top three scorers from last year.
Top returners are senior goalkeeper Booker Gifford, senior defender Ryan Roberts, junior defender Leo Dyas and senior midfielder Brady Dalton.
“We will be young this year with only four seniors, but our underclassmen are talented and hard workers,” said head coach Jeremy Robertson. “We have a tough schedule that will give us some growing pains, but hopefully those growing pains will help us make another state run.”
Highlands
The Bluebirds were 10-6-1 and return a lot of varsity experience for head coach Suli Kayed plus some talented freshmen. They graduated three seniors.
Top returning players are Ethan Lang, David Valdez and Wade Fedders.
Ryle
The Raiders were an uncharacteristic 8-9-2 last season and hope to make another run at the Ninth Region title for head coach Stephen Collins.
Their top returning players are defenders Damian Lakkis and Eli Zehnder, midfielders Danny Harding and Chase McCarty and forward Cooper Neace. Neace is one of Northern Kentucky’s top returning offensive players with nine goals and six assists last season.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Greater Cincinnati boys soccer teams to watch this season
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
