Stewart Johnson
Opponents were unable to find an answer for Carroll’s offense, which scored 74 goals this season. Senior captain and unanimous District 5-6A MVP Robbie Pino led the team with 19 goals and 18 assists (56 total points) in 17 games.
“Honestly, talent-wise, he’s one of the best players in the country,” Cottrell says of Pino, a University of Chicago signee and “USA Today” nominee for Dallas Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
Senior midfielder Massimo Palmer distributed with creativity and consistency in the middle, while junior Pato Sanchez created opportunities with 10 points and nine assists.
Senior defender and District 5-6A Defensive MVP Eric Jorgensen, committed to Southwest University in Georgetown, is an experienced leader and a big reason for the team’s successful counter-pressing strategy.
“Our philosophy is the speed of play,” Cottrell says. “We limit our number of touches and want to be moving as fast as we can. We play a possession game. We make quick and intelligent decisions. It’s hard to play against a team that has 11 players on the field that do that.”
SEASON RECAP
The top-ranked soccer program in the country by “USA Today,” the 2019 Dragons compiled a 20-1-3 record in the regular season only to find themselves upset by Hebron 2-0 in bi-district. This year’s team was ready to avenge last year’s early exit, streaking to a 19-1 record (12-0 in District 5-6A) before play came to a halt just two games before the postseason.
“That’s been kind of the whole mission for this year,” says Aaron Cottrell, Dragons head coach. “Rankings mean absolutely nothing to these guys. They couldn’t care less. All that [mattered was] making a deep run in the playoffs.”
Although playoffs are unfortunately out of the picture due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dragons showed they were playoff-ready. Carroll actually lost its season opener to a good Lewisville team, 2-1, before reeling off 19 wins in a row. The Dragons won the North Texas Elite Showcase, one of the most competitive tournaments in the country with eight nationally-ranked teams in attendance, then went undefeated at the Governor’s Cup tournament in Georgetown.
Carroll’s point differential grew throughout district, as Cottrell’s team outscored opponents 50-1 in 12 contests.
“Last year, we were trying to get back into being one of the elite programs around,” Cottrell says. “But it’s possible we were running on fumes towards the end. This year, we were making more of an effort to pace ourselves.”
’20 Roster
Head Coach: Aaron Cottrell
Assistant Coaches:Chris Padilla, Doug Tekell and Aaron Lineweaver
0 William Westover Jr.
1 Adam Paquette So.
2 Max McLarty Jr.
3 Jack Meyer So.
4 Rory Skains Sr.
6 Ryan Westerberg Sr.
7 Robbie Pino Sr.
8 Griffin Massey Sr.
9 Pato Sanchez Jr.
10 Hayes Buete So.
11 Ali Morrish Sr.
12 Kyle Reynolds Sr.
13 Zachary Bloedow Jr.
14 Jack Mooney Sr.
15 Jackson Clay Sr.
16 Tomas Esposito Jr.
18 Karson Pannell Sr.
19 Parker Owens Fr.
20 Eric Jorgensen Sr.
21 Massimo Palmer Sr.
22 Destin Blanchard Sr.
23 Andrew Swauger Jr.
24 Michael Fisher Jr.
25 Michael Grimm Jr.
26 Matthew Hern Sr.
27 Tomas Almeida Sr.
28 Scott Mundy So.
29 Corbin Duwe So.