Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

DOVER - Western Boone boys soccer coach Shane Conner knows that his team is a work in progress early in the season. But the Stars took a big step in the right direction on Saturday, jumping out early and topping North Montgomery 6-1. "I am really happy, but we still have a lot of work to do," Conner said. "We are grinding every day trying to get better. I am happy, we want to win and that's what we expect from this team and they met my expectations today. There were still some mistakes that we made on the pitch that we have to correct if we are going to be competitive throughout the season." Western Boone needed just three minutes to get on the board, when Luke Rose scored to get the Stars on the board. A short time later, Carson Devol scored to double the lead, and with 30:41 left in the first half, Aden Conner scored to make it 3-0. Western Boone continued their fast start two minutes later, when the Stars were awarded a penalty kick and Conner scored it to make it 4-0. "That's what we were working on last week, so that was refreshing to see," coach Conner said of the offense and the different players scoring. "In the previous games, we might have gotten four or six shots on goal, but it was the same two guys taking them. We worked on that this week, and it was nice to get a couple guys involved in the offense." Western Boone added one more before the half, with Ben Fortner getting on the score sheet. Even with the sizable lead, Conner implored his team from the sideline to keep their levels up and keep a high standard. He said it was important to keep using the game as a way to improve. "The one thing I believe in is that if you give kids hope and a little direction, that's all they need to get out there and perform their best," Conner said. "I am always motivating them because we want to give our best no matter what." Western Boone added a sixth goal midway through the second half, with Rose adding his second goal. Throughout the second half, the Stars heavily rotated their team, a couple times doing full "line changes" to get players playing time. With 13 freshmen and sophomores in the program, Conner said any experience they can get is valuable. "It's always nice," Conner said of being able to play a lot of players. "They didn't have a JV team, and we have 25 kids, which is a good number for WeBo. Our program is growing, so it's great to keep them engaged and wanting to come back for more. They are getting better. And as long as I'm coaching them and they are learning, they are going to come back and tell their friends to come out - it's been really great." After a few tough results to start the season, Conner said it was good to get the first win out of the way. More importantly, the Stars have gotten better every game and want to continue that trend moving forward. "I never coach how we were yesterday, I coach on how we want to be tomorrow," Conner said. "There are a lot of challenges when it comes to coaching a young soccer team, but one thing I am pushing for them is to be better every day. Whether that is offense, defense, in school, wherever, we want to be better every day." Western Boone is back in action Tuesday at Speedway, then have more than a week to prepare for Lebanon. Conner said he likes the way the team has been willing to learn so far this season, and has a few things he wants the team to improve on moving forward. "They're listening and they put in hard work," Conner said. "They do what I ask them, which is all I ask of them as a coach. We are going to work on some of our field awareness and our movement on the field a little bit." Article and photo compliments of Will Willems of the Lebanon Reporter