MaxPreps 2013 Soccer Early Contenders: St. Xavier boys

Toughest Games: "Arch rival Trinity (Louisville) is always a tough game. They are immensely talented and we will be on the road at their place this year. We also will play St. Louis University High School from Missouri and Liberty Olentangy from Ohio, who are both traditionally strong programs. Lastly, at the Gateway City Classic tournament in St. Louis, we will face, among others, Chaminade (St. Louis) and Reitz Memorial (Evansville, Ind.)," Schulten said.

Question Marks: "The major question mark is how we will replace 10 starters from last year lost to graduation, and 13 of our top 16 players. We must settle on a goalkeeper and a defense, and need to find a complement to Joe Workman up top," Schulten said.

National Look: St. Xavier plays as close to a national schedule as any fall soccer program in the country. Teams it faces in-state should benefit from that in terms of finding out just how good the soccer is in the Kentucky hotbeds of Louisville and Lexington.

In Summary: "We have the toughest schedule we have ever played, and if our inexperienced guys learn from it and toughen up throughout the course of the season, we should find ourselves in the hunt again come tournament time. But there are many questions that can only be answered on the field."
- Head coach Andy Schulten