MINISTERS OF DEFENSE: (from left) Centennial's Scott Grosskopf and Kyle Virtue, on defense, and midfield teammate Easton Gallant will shoulder the mutual responsibilities of leading a balanced Eagles' squad.
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by Lem Satterfield

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Centennial's  31st-year coach, Mike Siegert, likes to joke that being the Dean of Howard County coaches means only that he's "getting old."


But the 55-year-old coach recalls better than most what was last year's roller coaster league season, one that included as many ups and downs for his Eagles as other teams in the county.


"We beat  Mount Hebron  in overtime during the season, lost to them in overtime  of the  county  championship, and beat them in the regional playoffs," said Siegert. "We  beat Glenelg in the county play, but then, we lost to them, 9-8, in the regional championship. And of course, they went on to win states."

 

This year's Eagles graduated 18 seniors from that team, and are a youthful mix of the returning 12 senior veterans and talented, rising underclassmen.


The Eagles' strength starts with veteran defenders, Kyle Virtue, Scott Grosskopf and Tsubasa Matsui, who will need to work with newcomer goalie, Carl Suhrstedt, a 6-foot, 245-pounder with nimble feet


"Last year was a really exciting year for us. We didn't have a lot of guys coming back, so the goal was just to get better each day. But in the 21st century, the county has won six championships -- three for us, two for Mount Hebron and then, last year, Glenelg's," said Siegert, whose Eagles won the last of his six state titles in 2005.


"We return most of the defense from last year, which is a great starting point. We don't have a lot of goal-scorers coming back, but we do have a lot of guys with experience coming back," Siegert said. "This year, we have a nice blend of veterans and youth in the defense."


The returning third-year starters are Virtue and the 6-3, 180-pound Grosskopf.


"We had a lot of goals set last year, and one of them was to win some type of championship, so that was a little a bit of a disappointment," Grosskopf said. "At the same time, it has kind of carried over into this season, and so we have a lot of high goals for this year."


 It will the role of midfielder Easton Gallant, a third-year starter, to key the transition.


Gallant will handle faceoffs in addition to playing a substantial role in scoring goals.


"We have a lot of experienced middies this year. I think we're going to be very dominating at faceoffs, like, not giving a lot of teams a chance to handle the ball," Gallant said. "Pretty much the best defense will be a good offense. If we have the ball, they can't score."


Coach: Mike Siegert, 34th-year, 31st at Centennial

Last year's record: 14-4, county runners-up, regional runners-up.

 

Top returners: Kyle Virtue, Sr., D; Scott Grosskopf, Sr., D; Tsubasa Matsui, Sr., D; Shane Jaeger, Jr., A; Easton Gallant, Sr., M.