By Staff

Fall 2019 Preview: Lebanon Soccer

By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

The 2018 season wasn’t what Lebanon coach Matt Jernigan had hoped for, but there were bright spots he said the Yellowjackets can build on this season.

“We feel like this could be one of the better teams we have had in several years at Lebanon,” said Jernigan, who is 115-245-13 at Lebanon. “We have a lot of returning players and a lot of our talent returning. We will need to stay healthy and continue to push each other all season, but we think that we can have a good season if we do that.”

The Yellowjackets finished 7-17 overall and 2-7 in the Ozark Conference, before ending the season with a first-round loss to Class 3 semifinalist Glendale in the Class 3 District 10 tournament.

Gone from last year’s squad are Manny Del-Rio Vasquez and Tanner Wittrock.

“Manny played midfield for us for three years,” Jernigan said. “His decision-making will be hard to replace in the middle. Tanner played keeper for us for about half the season but had an injury late in the season.”

Del-Rio Vasquez was a Class 3 All-District 10 and All-Ozark Conference second-team selection, scoring five goals and one assist.

Jernigan has a strong core of returning players led by junior forward Zach Richards. Richards was a Class 3 All-Southwest/Central Region selection and a first-team all-district and all-conference pick as a sophomore.

“He has been working hard over the offseason to improve,” Jernigan said of Richards, who scored 21 goals in 2018, the second-most goals scored in a season at Lebanon. “He has incredible speed and great touch on the ball. We are excited for him to have a breakout year this year.”

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Senior defender Ethan Murray was named to the all-district first team and was an honorable mention pick on the all-conference team.

“Ethan has anchored our defense for three years now,” Jernigan said. “He is a very competitive player and works hard to make our team better. He will be a vocal leader in the back for us this year.”

Junior midfielder Luis Pedroza was named to the all-district second team in 2018.

“Luis played midfield the last two years for us,” Jernigan said. “He has great vision and can create for himself as well as for others. He will be a key in the middle for us.”

The Yellowjackets have a solid group of newcomers who Jernigan will be looking to contribute this season.

• Ryder Rhoades – sophomore midfielder – “Ryder played in the midfield for us last year. He is a very intelligent player who is going to create for us this year. He has a very high soccer IQ and we are excited to see the steps he takes this year.”

• Zach Jamieson – senior goalkeeper – “Zach joined us a junior last year. He is a multi-sport athlete who is incredibly versatile. He ended up starting in goal at the end of the season last year after some injuries and did really well. He is our No. 1 keeper headed into season and we are really excited to watch him progress.”

• Quinton Doughty – sophomore midfielder – “Quinton is a speedster. He played outside mid for us last year and will be looked at to take some pressure off Richards this year. With that duo up top, we are really excited to see what they can do.”

• Austin Barber – junior defender – “Austin has had a really good summer for us. He has been playing in the defense and playing really well. Hopefully, he can continue that into the season.”

Lebanon will be competing in a jamboree with Branson, Bolivar and Camdenton, before opening the season in its tournament on Aug. 30-31. Teams entered include Sullivan, West Plains, Dixon, Carl Junction and Fair Grove.

“I think our team speed and athleticism are going to be really good this year,” Jernigan said. “We will need to use that athleticism and try to outwork our opponent each night. We need to pressure and get forward fast this year.

“We are not real deep, so we will need to stay healthy and work on our conditioning to combat that.”