The Park Hill South boys soccer team has lost some experience, but they believe they still have the talent to mold a team together that is capable of competing for the state title.
The most significant question lies in the heart of the defense after graduating both starting center backs from last year’s team. Still, the Panthers’ focus has shifted to finding the next center back pairing that will lead the program back to a deep postseason run.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that are hungry,” head coach Chris Farmer said. “I wouldn’t call it a rebuilding year because we do have a lot of pieces to the puzzle already there, but there’s definitely some spots that we’re going to have to train those guys to do the right things.”
Park Hill South returns just five starters from last year’s team. Among the most critical losses in personnel was that of all-state standout Jake Farmer, one of the two who have since left a big hole to fill in the heart of South’s defense.
“We kind of have an idea of who is going to fill those, but we’re just not sure how they will perform,” Farmer said of the Park Hill South central defensive prospects. “They are just young and don’t have a lot of experience at the varsity level.”
The Panthers’ defense will be aided by a good team around them, which includes goalkeeper Everett Grower and Noah Stephens as an experienced outside back. The midfield will be without 2024 all-state standout Dante Toapanta following his graduation, but there is talent returning, led by all-conference forward William Bowne, who returns after leading the team in goals last year, as well as forward Nathaniel Bartram and midfielders Ty Zimmerman and Nicholas Parra.
With some new pieces still getting acclimated to the level of play at the varsity level, Farmer isn’t expecting perfection. Still, there are expectations and a belief that the team will be firing on all cylinders by the time postseason play rolls around.
Park Hill South has built a strong soccer program, especially in recent years with a second-place finish at state in 2023. The Panthers have set their targets on conference and district titles, which would set up an opportunity for another deep postseason run.
“We had a really good taste of it two years ago when we got to that state championship game,” Farmer said. “From here on out, that’s going to be our ultimate goal: to get back to that game.”