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When he looks at his team, McDonald County soccer coach John Delatorre sees potential. Combine that with some key players returning, and the Mustangs hope to be on the road to a successful season. "As a coaching staff, we're optimistic about the upcoming season," Delatorre said. "This group of players has a lot of potential, and we're hoping to turn that into a lot of good results. As far as expectations go, we're gonna take it day by day. At the end of the season, every- one has the same opportunity to play for a district championship and, if we're playing our best soccer by the end of the season, we will be happy." Delatorre is happy to see these return- ees back for McDonald County. Julis Quetzecua (one goal), Esteban Marti- nez (two goals), Saw Eh (five goals) and goalkeeper Tomas De La Cruz (100-plus saves) lead the list of the team's veteran standouts. "This season, we will have a good chunk of returning varsity players," Dela- torre said. "A good number of our junior class got some really valuable experience on the field last year as sophomores. Our returning senior players have had a few years at the varsity level and will bring so much leadership to this squad. All in all, we will have a great group of returning players from last year." The Mustangs seek to build on the progress made last season, which ended with a 9-10 record. "[It] was a very good season for us," Delatorre said. "We were really pushing to get past the 10-win mark for the first time in program history and, although we came up just short, we were happy with the successes we had and the develop- ment of our underclassmen." Delatorre, who is in his fourth season as head coach, hasn't decided on which formation the Mustangs will use this time around. "… We usually like to keep a good balance," Delatorre said. "We like to try to keep the ball at our feet as much as we can and do our best to play a posses- sion-first game." Which teams look like contenders in the conference? "Title threats are usually Springfield Catholic, Monett and Logan-Rogersville," Delatorre said. "So we will have to play well every conference game this season to be among the best of the best." The Mustangs hope to make the most of their potential. "… They have the potential and the willingness to be one of the most successful teams in program history," Delatorre said of his squad. Thursday, August 26, 2021 McDonald County Press 7C 2 0 2 1 F a l l S p o r t S p r e v i e w Al Gaspeny Special to McDonald County Press Potential Is Plus For Soccer Mustangs RICK PECK/FILE PHOTO Ricardo Salas (left) tries to make a play against Joplin during a game last season. SOCCER No. Name Grade GK Tomas De La Cruz 9 GK Griffin Schutten 9 1 Elias Bail 11 2 Hasler Lopez 10 4 Aldo Sanchez 11 5 Bryan Montero 12 6 Rhett Keaton 9 7 Saw Eh 11 8 Alejandro Cujedo 11 9 Julis Quetzecua 12 10 Jose Mendoza 10 11 Esteban Martinez 11 12 Tucker Dill 11 13 Christian Ramirez 9 14 Cesar Diaz 11 15 Jacob Zuniga 11 16 Luis Valdez 12 17 Tony Rubi 10 18 Oscar Mora 10 19 Rony Lopez 10 20 Brayan Cujedo 12 21 Francisco Blancas 11 23 Ricardo Salas 12 24 Huxley Wardlaw 11 25 Antonio De La Cruz 11 26 Steven Paxton 9 27 Edwin Gonzales N/A 28 Richie Gasca 9 31 Rogers Ramirez 11 We support the McDonald County Mustangs City of ANDERSON Missouri Good Luck Mustangs! www.facebook.com/meatshopandprocessing/