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The Winona Senior High School junior goalkeeper stands at an intimidating 6-foot-4 and weighs
200 pounds. He can grasp the 8-foot-high crossbar standing up, and kicking a soccer ball past him is a nearly impossible task.
“(Opponents) take one look at him and are like, ‘Oh, no,’” senior midfielder Chris Bagshaw said. “They know how good he is, and they know how tough it’s going to be for them to score on him.”
Bagshaw knows first-hand how stingy Miene can be. The two competed for Winona’s Under-16 team over the summer, going undefeated until losing in the state championship game. Miene allowed just four goals.
WSHS coach Pete Weess is hoping that kind of performance can carry into the fall season, especially since the Winhawks will start two first-year defenders.
“He’s the reason why I’m not too concerned about having some younger, inexperienced kids playing defense,” said Weess, whose team opens its season at 7 p.m. today at La Crescent. “I think Alex can hold us up there.”
Weess is also hoping the 17-year-old is done growing.
“You can actually grow yourself out of the position because it’s so difficult to get down to shots on the ground,” Weess said. “A goalie being that big is unusual, but it’s ideal to have a bigger goalkeeper because he can cut off the angles and reduce the size of the goal.”
Miene never has played anything but goalkeeper, volunteering for the position while playing on the youth parks and recreation team his mother, Lauren, coached.
As a senior in Kansas, Lauren Miene was the lone female on her high school’s soccer team.
“I was the only girl on the team because of Title IX,” Lauren Miene said. “They didn’t have an equal girls
team, so they had to let
girls try out for the boys team.”
Lauren went on to play for Denison University in Ohio before eventually passing down her love for soccer to Alex.
While his mother was a goal scorer, Alex is a goal stopper. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’d definitely rather save a goal than score one,” he said. “It’s just a great feeling to make a good save and to see the reaction on the other player’s face.”
Prep soccer outlook
Winona Senior High
Coach: Pete Weess, 13th year.
Last year: 8-10-2 overall, 6-9-2 Big Nine Conference.
Top players: Alex Miene, jr.; Kyle Martin, sr.; Chris Bagshaw, sr.; Jose Garcia, jr.; Deni Jerkic, jr.; Erik Darvo, jr.
Notes: WSHS has seven returning starters. All but two offensive players are returning from last season, meaning the midfield and forward positions should be the team’s biggest strengths … The defense will be inexperienced on the outside, as both outside defenders are first-year starters … Most of the team is made up of juniors and seniors, but the top three players off the bench likely will be sophomores.
Coach’s comment: “One of our weaknesses last year was scoring, and I think that’s going to be improved quite a bit this year. I think part of it is a new scheme, and the other part is our ability to possess the ball more, which will create good opportunities.”
Cotter
Coach: Mike Buum, first year.
Last year: 9-7 overall, 5-1 Hiawatha Valley League.
Top players: Matt Brickl, sr.; Ross Heymans, sr.; Fils Mwizerwa, sr.; Brian Lubahn, jr.; Gil Murayire, sr.; Peter Knepper, sr.
Notes: Cotter is a very experienced team; seven of the 11 starters this year also started last season … Sweeper Matt Brickl will lead a senior-dominated defense that should be solid … Aaron Theis is a returning starter as a sophomore and has showed signs of being a great player at his outside-midfielder position … Cotter will be trying to improve on an 2006 season in which it received the No. 5 seed and was eliminated by
La Crescent in the second round of the playoffs.
Coach’s comment: “A big goal this year is to put points on the board. We’ve been working a lot on shooting, crossing and trying different things to put the ball in the net. We’ve always been a pretty good team defensively; we just haven’t always put up the big numbers for goals.”
Schedule
Aug. 23—Winona at La Crescent, 7 p.m.; 25—Faribault at Winona,
5 p.m.; 28—Winona at Rochester John Marshall, 7 p.m.; Cotter at Stewartville, 5 p.m.; 30—Winona at Rochester Mayo, 7 p.m.; Cotter at Schaeffer Academy, 5 p.m.
Sept. 4—Caledonia at Winona,
7 p.m.; Rochester Lourdes at Cotter, 5 p.m.; 6—Winona at Austin, 7 p.m.; 10—Caledonia at Cotter, 5 p.m.; 11—Rochester John Marshall at Winona, 7 p.m.; Cotter at Byron,
7 p.m.; 13—Winona at Owatonna,
7 p.m.; 15—Austin at Winona, 1 p.m.; Rochester Mayo at Cotter, 10 a.m.; 18—La Crescent at Cotter, 5 p.m.; 20—Winona at Faribault, 7 p.m.; Cotter at Kasson-Mantorville, 7 p.m.; 22—Mankato West at Winona, 1 p.m.; 24—Cotter at Caledonia, 7 p.m.; 25—Rochester Mayo at Winona,
7 p.m.; Cotter at Pine Island/ Zumbrota-Mazeppa, 5 p.m.; 27—Winona at Albert Lea, 7 p.m.; Plainview-Elgin-Millville at Cotter,
5 p.m.; 29—Mankato East at Winona, 2 p.m.
Oct. 1—Schaeffer Academy at Cotter, 5 p.m.; 2—Kasson-Mantorville, 5 p.m.; 4—Winona at Century, 7 p.m.; Cotter at Plainview-Elgin-Millville,
7 p.m.; 6—Albert Lea at Winona,
2 p.m.; 8—Lake City at Cotter, 5 p.m.
— Matt Huss, Winona Daily News
