A year ago, East Meadow boys’ soccer made history, becoming the first team in program history to win a Nassau County title.
Jets coach Bryan Horrmann called it “surreal,” but learned a long time ago from his father Bill not to dwell in the past.
“I was taught by my father, you win, you move on. What's the next day like,’” he said. “I come from the background of what have you done lately?”
Bill Horrmann played at Brentwood in the 1970s alongside Ron Eden, their longtime head coach who guided his program to another state title last fall. They beat East Meadow in the Long Island Class AAA final.
“We’re not looking too far ahead, we're not looking behind us,” Horrmann said. “What happened happened, which was great. But we know teams are going to be wanting to beat us wherever we go.”
Winning, though, does have its advantages, which includes elevated eagerness in the preseason as well as overall numbers — Horrmann said 70 players came out to try out for the defending country champions.
“The kids who were with me last year know we have to perform at our best,” Horrmann said. “And the kids that weren't with me, on JV, they want to play for a championship team.”
A year ago, the Jets were guided by a fearsome attacking threesome of Dylan Wauchope, Raymond McLeod and Robert Derwin. Only Wauchope returns and the senior who can score with either foot, will take on an even bigger scoring role than last year.
“I don’t expect him to score every goal,” Horrmann said. “But I expect him to be distributing, when the ball’s at his feet, to take on people in one-v-one situations … I expect him to be a leader.”
Jose Flores, who started at left back last year as a freshman, is moving up front and will be joined by fellow sophomore Kevin Cruz on attack.
Dayton Wauchope will feature either wide or centrally in a midfield anchored by Andrew Velasquez, who started at center back a year ago. Junior Adel Deljannin and Dennis Calu will also see time in the midfield.
Junior David Flores is a returning starter at center back and partners with sophomore Evan Velez, up from the junior varsity after impressing this summer. Senior Jared Jiminez will likely start at left back, opposite either Nick Acosta or Joel DelRosario on the right side.
They’ll play in front of either Jayden Cohen or Matthew Rivas, who are competing for the starting goalkeeping position Jack DeVoti excelled in a year ago.
In addition to new pieces on the roster, East Meadow is in a new classification this season, competing in AA-2 after winning the Class AAA championship last year.
“We have a lot of young talent,” Horrmann said. “It’s just finding our groove. We'll be very competitive, but we're just inexperienced so we just have to get that experience and hopefully build up on every game.”