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Sports

Pikesville Boys' Coach: 'Anything's Possible' For Young, Athletic Panthers

With just three seniors on the roster, Pikesville opened its season with a 2-2 tie against Beth Tfiloh.

Heading into last week’s season opener against Beth Tfiloh, Pikesville boys soccer coach Mark Lavallee’s message to his team was the same as it had been all through preseason practice.

“I didn’t really have a message for that particular game,” said Lavallee, in his ninth season as the Panthers’ head coach. “I just told them to keep working to improve and get better.”

With the Panthers being such a young team— there are just three seniors on the roster and just one starter returns from last year—Lavallee says that’s something he’ll keep empathizing to his players throughout the season.

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While he says his team still has a lot to learn and is bound to experience some growing pains during the season, Lavallee came away pleased with how his players fared against Beth Tfiloh.

The game ended in a 2-2 tie but the coach said he was “pleasantly surprised” with how well Pikesville played, especially after struggling in each of its three scrimmages leading up to the season.

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The Panthers led 2-1 in the game, but surrendered a game-tying goal late in regulation.

Nonetheless, Lavallee says Pikesville’s effort “was very encouraging.”

“I was actually expecting us to have a hard time against them,” Lavallee said, “but that’s the best I’ve seen this team play so far.”

 Lavallee says he understands he needs to be patient with this team. At the same time, he notes that “my expectations don’t change.”

“My expectation every year is to be the best team possible,” Lavallee said. “My goal is always to win the region and get into the final four regardless of how many seniors we have or how young we are.”

He added, “You have to set the bar high for these kids, otherwise they’ll have nothing to work towards.”

Armed with a more veteran team last season, Lavallee guided Pikesville to a 9-5 record and a berth in the Class 1A North semifinals.

Under Lavallee, the Panthers have reached the regional semifinals the last four seasons and advanced to the regional finals twice, although each of those trips ended with losses. Pikesville fell to Sparrows Point, 2-1, in the 2008 Class 1A North regional final and to eventual state champion Loch Raven, 2-1, in the 2009 regional final.

Despite having a much younger team this year, Lavallee says the Panthers have enough talent to advance just as far, if not further, this season.

In order for that to happen, Lavallee said he will need big contributions from seniors Tete Obot, Mitchell Fine and Josh Borris.

Obot, a defender, is Pikesville’s lone returning starter. A multi-sport athlete, Obot is also a standout for the Panthers’ baseball team. Borris, a forward, scored one of Pikesville’s two goals against Beth Tfiloh.

While Lavallee says his team “still has to learn how to compete at this level,” he envisions a successful season for this year’s Panthers.

“I could see this team making it all the way to the regional finals,” Lavallee said. “We have more athleticism than we’ve had in the past. And if you have that, anything’s possible.”

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