ShawneeDispatch.com

Rick Enna wasn't exactly concerned with the score.

The head coach of the boys soccer team at St. James Academy knew his athletes were going to have a tough task going against one of the top 5A soccer teams in the state in St. Thomas Aquinas. Enna knew that Aquinas was the bigger school with the more established soccer bloodline and that he was presenting a Thunder team with its first-ever class of seniors.

No. What Enna wanted to do with the first game was to establish certain items for the future. First, he wanted to let his players know he expects them to play head up with anybody, no matter the odds. And secondly, Enna wanted to find out where his squad's weaknesses were, so they could begin to correct them.

The result was a 6-0 loss to the Saints, but it was a loss Enna could deal with because it was the best kind - early season - and it established a base from which to work.

"It was a hard test for us, but our boys played very hard," he said. "It was only 2-0 at halftime and we had had a chance to tie it just before the half. We felt that they had the better of the play but that we challenged hard. We gave up a lot of goals, but that's because we played Aquinas straight up. We didn't try to play a defensive game. Playing a great team like Aquinas exposes your weaknesses, and we saw them very clearly."

After one game and nearly three weeks of practice, Enna has a pretty good feel for his team as the squad enters its fourth year of existence. Nearly every Thunder player returns from the 2007 team and, for the first time in school history, St. James has a full-fledged senior class to lead them on the field.

Among the many seniors on the squad, Enna points to Joe Kelling and Matt Straub as two of the class' strongest leaders. Kelling will provide an anchor for the Thunder in the back row while Straub figures to provide speed and offense from both the forward and midfield positions.

Enna also hopes to see superlative play from sophomore Zach Kohlrous at the center midfield spot and junior Mike Huppe at sweeper.