Looking back at the 2022 Graham Steers soccer season

With school out for the summer and the end of the high school sports year, The Graham Leader will take a look back at the 2021-2022 UIL athletic year. In this edition of The Graham Leader, we will look back at the 2022 season for Steers soccer.

Steers head coach Tim Wankowicz knew he put a tough non-district schedule for his Steers and believed his team was up to the challenge. While the Steers could have been up to the task, injuries proved to be just as problematic from the start.

Oversized and outmatched, the Steers struggled in the season opener with a 4-1 loss to Argyle. After giving up four goals in the first half, Wankowicz made a change to stop the bleeding and see how his team would respond.

Most of the game was played in the defensive third with the Steers struggling with the height of the Eagles. The Eagles had already had six shots, including five on goal when Connor Webster scored the first of four goals with 20:44 left in the first half. The shot curved past the outstretched arms of Steers goalkeeper Jaron Noble.

“They had an outstanding goal at the 20-minute mark that faded away from Jaron and he had no chance at it even though he dove completely outstretched,” Wankowicz said. “Then the last 10 minutes of the 1st half we just had the bottom fall out from beneath us. They scored three goals and we were down 4-0 at half.”

The Steers changed formations in the second half, bringing Noble into the midfield. He was replaced in goal by Owen Gage. Noble gives the Steers more height in the midfield. The Steers were rewarded with a goal via penalty kick at the 32:33 mark in the second half.

For the full story, see the Saturday, July 2 edition of The Graham Leader.