9/12 boys soccer: New coaches hope to make MVC a respected conference

By TODD SOMMERFELDT / La Crosse Tribune

Some of the faces are familiar, and some are not.

Some of the teams are familiar, and some are not.

When you attend a Mississippi Valley Conference boys soccer game this fall, be prepared for the unknown. You may ask a friend who that person is across the field coaching the opposing team. Or which team that stranger happens to be coaching.

You might even ask who is coaching the team you came to see.

A lot has changed in MVC boys soccer this season, and those changes have brought with them a bit of a buzz around what will happen.

“It’s exciting,” Onalaska High School coach Scott Conzemius said. “I know a lot of the new coaches, and they’re very good.

“I think it’s going to be great watching the new coaches try to bring their teams to new levels.”

Conzemius, who graduated from Onalaska in 2002, is one of six new coaches in a brand new eight-team MVC. An MVC that includes West Salem, which is a Coulee Conference member for all other sports.

This is Mike Barta’s fifth season as Tomah’s coach, and it’s Joe Czerniak’s second season as the coach at Central.

But that’s where the list of the experienced coaches leading an MVC varsity team ends.

Conzemius, Nate Schneider (Aquinas), Andy Hartman (Logan) and Ben Crenshaw (Sparta) are each getting their first taste of being the guy in charge.

Holmen’s Andy Olson and West Salem’s Jason Mahlum aren’t new coaches, but they are new to the MVC. The MVC added the Holmen and West Salem soccer programs after operating as a six-team conference through 2006.

Heck, Olson’s Vikings are a first-year varsity program.

“There are some pretty good coaches coming in,” Barta said. “Some of the schools are putting some money and time into soccer, and that’s good to see.”

By the way, if Conzemius is one of those good coaches, some of the credit goes to Olson.

“I remember coaching him when he was 10 years-old,” Olson said of Conzemius.

Barta is also happy to see the quality in some of the new hires. He believes it proves that the sport is being taken more seriously at a number of schools.

The days of learning on the job have been, for the most part, gone for awhile.

The days of making the MVC a respected boys soccer conference are here, and the names listed above are the ones that Coulee Region soccer enthusiasts hope make that happen.

Perhaps there is another J.P. Piche in the bunch. Piche is closing in on his 150th career victory as the coach at La Crescent, which he has guided to a 147-82-14 record in 12-plus seasons.

Aquinas and Onalaska have the MVC on the cusp of gaining some statewide respect.

The Blugolds were the WIAA Division 3 state runners-up in 2002.

The Hilltoppers qualified for state tournaments in Division 2 in 2004 and 2005 before losing a Division 1 sectional final in double overtime last year.

Those success stories will put Schneider and Conzemius under the microscope.

“It’s a gift and a curse,” said Schneider, who takes over for Mike Jacobs, who could be considered the face — at least from a coaching perspective — of local soccer. “(Jacobs) is a very good soccer coach, and he took a program that was average for a long time and had a lot of success with it.

“There’s a tradition of winning, and even though it’s my first year in, I’ve got to pick it up quick.”

But the conference’s growth may be a hindrance until a potential scheduling conflict can be addressed.

With eight teams in the conference, each team will now play 14 MVC games instead of 10, and that limits the ability to play stronger nonconference teams.

“You can’t make the schedule hard if you want to,” Barta said. “We’ll only be as good as our conference that way.”

Both Barta and Schneider said that aspect of the conference could be looked at after this season is over. A possible solution could be playing one game against each MVC team and a tournament to conclude the end of the regular season.

THE MVC VETERANS