On the pitch, Longmont’s Ernesto Enriquez is a threat to score. But that may not be enough his senior season.
What can he do? Score goals and make athletic plays with the ball. He proved that last season when he scored 13 goals, which tied for the team lead.
What does he need to do? A little bit more. A little bit of everything, in fact.
The Trojans made it to last year’s Class 4A state quarterfinals and lost to eventual champion Air Academy. Guiding the run were seniors Josh Buysse and Alan Nava, who combined for 19 goals and 12 assists. But they’re both gone, which puts a lot of pressure on Enriquez to pick up the slack.
“This is gonna be my last year so I feel more determined and I try my hardest to do things correctly,” Enriquez said. “I just want to help out the team with what I can.”
Now the team-leading senior himself, Enriquez is focused on being a leader, motivating the younger Trojans the way older players did for him.
“I’ve learned how to be a leader in the past years,” Enriquez said. “Now, it’s my obligation to teach them how to be leaders.
“In practice, we kind of slack off a little bit sometimes. When we really put our minds to it on every play, we really look good. When we started out, sometimes we would be not trying. But now, we’re putting ourselves into it more and we’re getting the rhythm that coach wants us to play.”
On the field, first-year head coach Pat Laughlin, 24, is asking Enriquez to expand his game. Laughlin said Enriquez, at times, can too often take it upon himself to make something happen. He’s trying to get his best forward, who had just two assists last year, to give up the ball more often and trust his teammates and make them a stronger unit.
Growing up in the Colorado Rapids Academy, Enriquez has the natural skills to be more of a facilitator, Laughlin said. Laughlin wants Enriquez to be a playmaker. That’s why he’s in the “relaxed” role in the Trojans’ 4-4-2, which actually means he’ll have more responsibility.
In the “relaxed” forward role, Enriquez will have more freedom to range back into the midfield and create offense from more varied positions on the field. Laughlin compared the style of play he’d like to see from Enriquez to that of Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.
“Rooney, he drops into the midfield a lot and receives the ball from midfielders,” Laughlin said. “Sometimes that’ll give Man U three people in the middle because he’s willing to drop into the middle and make something happen. That’s what I want Ernie to model after. He can be that role.”
But does Enriquez feel like he has to do everything? Yes, and no.
Enriquez and sophomore forward Kyle Pocalyko have developed as a dynamic duo in the preseason. They’ve spent drill after drill working on one-touch passes and give-and-go-style plays, and will play together up top.
Pocalyko, whose twin brother Jason also plays for the Trojans, comes from good stock. Their older brother played with Laughlin at Metro State and is still on the team. Laughlin says Kyle Pocalyko may have the Trojans’ most developed soccer mind.
“When you get them (Enriquez and Kyle Pocalyko) together, it looks so, so good,” Laughlin said. “They combine with each other and connect so well.”
A natural distributor, Kyle Pocalyko seems a perfect compliment to Enriquez’s natural skill.
“We just work together and get to goal nicely,” Kyle Pocalyko said. “We can play each other and look for the ball back and get an easy goal.”
Fresh off four years of soccer at Metro State, Laughlin expects a lot out of the players and is raising the standard. As often as possible, Laughlin brings in ex-college teammates to teach the Trojans the specifics of their positions.
Laughlin is doing everything he can to get his players to the next level. And that starts at the top, with Enriquez.
“I want him to play in college, and he wants to, also,” Laughlin said. “I want to help anyone who wants to go play, play.”
Brad Cochi can be reached at bcochi@times-call.com.
