Boys soccer 2021: Two-time Lorain County League champion Firelands looking for a playoff payoff this season

The two-time defending Lorain County League champions are back and looking for more. Firelands lost only one senior from last year league title team and, in fact, most of the Falcons were also in the lineup for the 2019 championship, as well. Now they have eyes fixed on making a postseason run. "We're looking to build on what we've done the past two years," said senior captain Alex Krebs. "Winning the league three years in a row is a goal but we're looking beyond that at trying to make a playoff run this year." The Falcons had one of the top offenses in Northeastern Ohio last season led by junior forward Alec Urbansky, the Lorain County Division II Player of the Year, who had 25 goals and 11 assists. "All of us have been playing since we were young, most of us have playing together for a long time so we have good chemistry," Urbansky said. "Coach (David) Zurcher has done a good job of preparing us to win. He makes sure we're well-conditioned." Zurcher, in his third season, knows there are higher expectations for his team this year. "This group of kids trusted the process and bought into what I was trying to do here," Zurcher said. "We're a Division II program trying to play Division I soccer. I think we can compete and keep up with anybody. "One of our goals is to win conference, our main goal is to make a deep playoff run. Firelands normally doesn't make deep playoff runs but I don't see why we can't this year. We're ready to play anybody. The sky is the limit for these guys." Junior forward Garrett Yakunovich is another key component for the offense. "We pretty much have our whole team coming back so I think we should do well this year, plus we have three freshman who are really good," Yakunovich said. "A lot of other teams in our conference lost good seniors and we're in a better position this year because we didn't lose anybody." Yakunovich had 11 goals and 11 assists last year. "We enjoyed being the underdog in previous years, now everyone just expects us to win," Yakunovich said. "We have to work harder to be successful." In recent years Firelands has been known for its success in football, basketball and baseball. Zurcher, a Falcons alum, is hoping to add soccer to that list. "Soccer hasn't always been the most exciting sport as far as Firelands goes," he said. "We've always been more of a football school or a baseball school. We're trying to change that." The Falcons have beefed up their non-league schedule this year with matches against Aurora, Fairview, Ashland and Holy Name. "Our tougher schedule is gonna help us quite a bit," forward Aidan Newman said."Once we get in the playoffs we know we're going to see tough teams so it makes us get ready for the playoffs." Newman, one of four seniors on the team, had nine goals and three assists last year. "We want to win the conference again this year and make it three in a row but we know the more we win it puts a big target on our back from all of the other teams we face," Newman said. "The idea of winning a couple of playoff games is really what keeps pushing us to go further and work harder." During Krebs' four years in a Falcons uniform he's seen Firelands transform from a team that only won one league title in its eight years in the Patriot Athletic Conference to one that is 15-3-2 in the first two seasons of the LCL. "We still keep the underdog mentality," Krebs said. "We're Firelands, no one things of us as a big soccer school but we go into each game trying to prove we're the team to beat this year." In addition to having success on the field, this group has also helped grow the game in the community. Over the summer, the Falcons had more than 100 participants at their youth soccer camp. A deep playoff run would create even more excitement. Vermilion, Firelands' main rival, was the last Division II team from Lorain County to win a district title, doing so in 2016. The Falcons think this is the year they can add their name to the district championship list. "We have a lot of talent," Krebs said. "This freshman class in a year or two is going to be really great and we have even more great players coming up. I'm excited to come back and watch some of their games in the future." Contact Todd Shapiro at ctsports@chroniclet.com.