In 1Vlidseason Form

Some of the top area high school soccer talents are playing crucial roles for their teams.

idway through the boys
high school soccer sea-
son, some local Jewish
players are performing
up to expectations, others are strug-
gling, while some younger players
are showing great promise for the
future.
Among the area's top forwards is
senior Adam Cohen of Birmingham
Groves. Cohen led the Falcons in
scoring last year and earned All-
League status in the Oakland
Activities Association. Through 10
games this season Cohen had six
goals and 11 assists for Groves, which
was 5-5.
"He's been playing excellent," said
Groves Coach Tom Goad. "He's
probably my hardest-working for-
ward. Just out there working hard
exery" single solitary game, giving 100
percent. When he goes in for a ball
and there's a defender there, he works
and works until he gets that half-step
and he'll shoot the ball."
Cohen feels he's playing pretty
good, but not beating the goalie as
he'd like to.
"I'm not scoring like I want to be
but I have 11 assists, which is about
10 more than I had last year at this
time," he said. "I'm passing more
than I did last year.-Because last year
there weren't as many people who
could score.
"Now there's a lot more people on
our team who have the ability to get
the goals."
Cohen is also a team leader.
"He's great at stepping up and tak-
ing charge and calming the team
down, especially the forwards," said
Goad. "Even at practice, when they
get a little lax and their intensity
drops, he definitely steps up and is a
leader."
Bloomfield Hills Andover (3-5-2)
is a fairly young team, made up
mostly of sophomores and seniors.
Among the seniors is sweeper Scott
Epstein, who earned Honorable
Mention Class B All-State notice last
season, as well as All-League and All-
Region honors.

ild

"He's having a very good year,"
said Coach Lee Fruman. "He plays
very strong for us in the back and
he's done a tremendous job solidify-
ing an inexperienced defense."
Last year was Epstein's first year at
sweeper, having spent,10 years at for-
ward and midfield.
"He took over the position very
well," Fruman said. "He's a leader
and helps organize the defense. His

competitive kid in everything he
does."
Fruman said Schram's a perfection-
ist, citing his near-perfect 3.9 grade
point average. "If he broke through
with one goal, I think he'd get five in
the next five games."
Sophomore midfielder Louis
Skeegan is a familiar name because of
his Maccabi participation. He played
in five different Maccabi Games,

Photos by Krista Husa

MIKE ROSENBAUM
Special To The Jewish News

Andover's Louis Skeegan slides to make the defensive play.

improvement this year has come in
terms of knowledge and reading the
game,"
Epstein was happy to volunteer for
the sweeper role last season.
"I wouldn't be helping the team to
my fullest potential otherwise," he
said. "It's the last man before the
goalie, and I get a lot of control of
the flow of the game because I'm
behind everyone."
Senior forward. Justin Schram led
the Barons in goal-scoring in each of
the past two seasons, totaling 17
goals and earning All-League honors
as a junior. But through 10 games
this year Schram had no goals and
two assists.
"He's putting a lot of pressure on
himself," Fruman said. "He's a very

earning a silver medal this summer in
Pittsburgh.
In his second varsity season,
Skeegan is a strong defensive player
who's also contributed one goal and
two assists.
"Louis is a very talented, highly
skilled player," Fruman said.
"Probably in terms of skill with the
ball, either first or second on the
team in terms of control, touch and
dribbling skills. He's able to take on
defenders and beat them.
"He has the potential ability to be
an All-State player if he applies him-
self properly."
Sophomore goalkeeper David
Eichenhorn is the team s biggest sur-
prise.
After Andover's goalkeepers gradu-

'

ated last year, Eichenhorn won the
job by default. But he's shown that he
deserves his position.
"I knew he'd be good," Fruman
said. "I liked his attitude last year.
But I wasn't really sure how he'd han-
dle varsity competition.
"He's just gotten better and really
performed tremendously. We'd really
be in bad shape without him."
Unlike his coach, Epstein wasn't
certain that Eichenhorn would do the
job.
"We played a couple scrimmages
in the spring with a different team
and he was our goalie," Epstein
recalled. "And he made some drastic
errors and we're sitting there and I'm
just (thinking), 'Oh, this is going to
be a rough year. We're going to let a
lot of goals in that shouldn't happen.'
But so far he's been tremendous. In a
couple years he's going to be one of
the better goalies in the league."
Through 10 games, Eichenhorn
had a 1.9 goals-against average with
two shutouts.
The transition from junior varsity
to varsity play has been fun, but
more intense.
"There's a little bit more pressure
than JV," said Eichenhorn. "We're
still trying to get the wins, but it's a
different game. Everything is just
taken a little more seriously."
Andover has nine Jewish players,
including senior midfielder Brandon
Pollak, a much-improved player who
has one goal and two assists; senior
defender Sean Zager; junior midfield-
er Matt Barbas, who's missed most of
the season due to a ruptured ear
drum, but who had one goal and
three assists in the Barons' first three
games; sophomore midfielder Dan
Spokojny, another Maccabi veteran;
and sophomore striker Jordan Powell,
who has one varsity goal this season
while splitting time between the var-
sity and JV teams.
Another of the area's top Jewish
players, Cranbrook's Josh Epstein,
injured his back in the season opener
and isn't expected back this year.
Epstein, a junior midfielder, earned
Honorable Mention All-State and
second team All-Region honors last
year.

❑

10/10
1997

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