C-M boys soccer trying to combine start with finish

When Canon-McMillan boys soccer coach Larry Fingers decided to run preseason camp differently this year, it wasn’t necessarily about the short-term successes but more of an emphasis on long-term goals.
The Big Macs, who have started the season similar to last year with three victories, already have perfected how to begin a season.
Their process now is to figure out how to properly end it.
Canon-McMillan rotated between wins and losses in the final month of the last year, mostly in section play, to finish behind Peters Township and Upper St. Clair. It was the Big Macs’ worst record since the 2011.
“It was probably our most inconsistent year,” Fingers said. “We didn’t constantly do things to our high standards, from training to communicating. The best teams we’ve had believed no matter what we were doing. I don’t think we had that belief last year. When you have that kind of unbalanced approach it unbalances your results.”
That was one reason why Fingers wanted to change what his team did prior to the season, hoping it might help the Big Macs when wins matter most – at the end of the season.
“Our preseason camp was nothing like anything we’ve done in the past,” he said. “Before, it was just about running. It was developing a mental toughness and having guys get after it.”
Fingers wanted to change those workouts to a more of a tactical approach.
“We were so concerned with fitness, and eventually you see kids wearing and breaking down,” Fingers said. “Our goal this year was to have everyone healthy. It was for our kids to understand what we wanted to look like both on and off the field.”
What the Big Macs have on the field is a relatively inexperienced, sophomore-dominated team that Fingers uses interchangeably.
Led by all-WPIAL and all-state senior Jonah Moore, forward/midfielder Brandon Dyer, midfielder Nathan Cathell and Billy Baron, the Big Macs are trying to merge a handful of seniors with the younger group.
“Every year people take on new responsibilities and we’re still in the process of figuring that all out,” Fingers said. “We are working on the small stuff on a daily basis. We try to bring kids along and put them in different situations.”
Three younger players C-M will rely on are junior Jon Sowell and sophomores Tommy Samosky and Luke Gladden. Fowell and Samosky, who played a lot in his freshman year, are the Big Macs’ defensive center backs.
“I remember starting the 2015 season at 10-0 and being ranked,” Fingers said. “We were trailing in the playoff games and came back to win, and eventually win the WPIAL championship. It was because they believed. It’s about having complete trust. I think that belief is back now.”