Cottonwood soccer to be a ‘band of brothers’ this season

One year after the Cottonwood Colts boys soccer team missed out on the state playoffs and had its worst record in several years head coach Dominic Minutello has preached staying together to this team.

“We are real excited about this group,” said Minutello. “They seem to have great chemistry and a work ethic to go along with it.”

Last year, the Colts went with older, more veteran players up and down the lineup from the previous program. This year, the younger players who managed to get quality minutes—like senior leader Dejen Abreha—will get their opportunity to show what they can do.

“Senior Captains Noah Boardman, Anthony Wilson and [Dejen Abreha] will lead this group throughout the season,” said Minutello, who returns Abreha, the Colts leading scorer from last year.

Abreha scored six times for Cottonwood last year, added Minutello, who believes that his band of brothers—also the team's motto this year—will do the job up top.

“We are expecting great things from our offense lead by senior Keaton Penny, and his sophomore brother Ryelee. Our midfield will be anchored by Anthony Wilson and [Dejen Abreha],” said Minutello. “And defensively we have senior leadership in Noah Boardman, Saiman Sadiq and Elliot Nebeker. Bryce Harvest will be our net tender.”

A lot of the players the Colts will start this year also got considerable experience playing on the JV team last year.

In region play, Cottonwood won just two games last year—both against Taylorsville. This year, the Colts go into a region that doesn't feature Taylorsville, but schools like Corner Canyon, Alta, Brighton and Timpview.

That said, Minutello said he believes that despite having several newcomers to varsity soccer, the Colts will be able to compete.

In their first preseason game on March 10, Cottonwood traveled to Bonneville and lost 3-1—followed by a 2-0 loss at home to Riverton. If the scoreboard thus far is any indication of the Colts season though, the Cottonwood defense is already stiffening from game to game.

“Our objective is to stay together and continue to improve each and every week,” added Minutello. “If we do that we are confident that we will get the positive results.”