By Bob Ettinger...



There’s but one way to ensure your team doesn’t lose when it comes to the game of soccer.

And Geneva senior Kyle O’Dell has a pretty good feel for what, exactly, that way is.

“We knew that if we didn’t give up a goal, there was no chance we’d lose the game,” O’Dell, the son of Geneva coach Brian O’Dell and his wife, Kanda, said. “If we didn’t give up a goal, we always had a chance to win.”

Aided by a strong defense, Kyle O’Dell, a goalkeeper, held 11 of the Eagles’ 17 opponents scoreless in 2009, leading him to be named Star Beacon Ashtabula County Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

O’Dell had 117 saves on the year and allowed just 11 goals for a 10.6 saves per match average on the season. Surprisingly, two of those 11 goals were scored by his Eagle teammates. Take those two scores out of the equation and he made 13 saves for every goal he allowed.

“Most shots against us were breakaways and they were right on top of him,” Brian O’Dell said. “He was tested quite a bit by the (Premier Athletic Conference) schools. He did a good job there. He allowed only six goals all year in the PAC.”

In five matches against county competition, Kyle O’Dell did not allow a single goal.

But, like a pitcher in baseball, Kyle O’Dell had help from those around him. Defenders Sean Dunlap, Joey Streets, Patrick Hoerrle and Stuart Jackson kept Kyle O’Dell from facing too many dangerous situations, though O’Dell was the one who received credit for the shutout.

“(A shutout) is a team thing,” Brian O’Dell said. “The goalie gets to record the shutout. Like a pitcher in baseball, he may get the shutout or the win, but there were guys playing behind him that made some nice plays. The shutout was because of the whole team.

“(Kyle) may get credit for the shutout, but we emphasize that a shutout is because of the whole team.”

“The defense really stepped up this year,” Kyle O’Dell said. “They did a phenomenal job. We communicated a lot better than we had in the last couple years.”

In fact, it was those defenders who took great joy in holding opponents scoreless.

“The shutouts are nice (for Kyle), but they were more of a team thing,” Brian O’Dell said. “If the other team doesn’t score, we can’t lose. If we don’t give up a goal, we can’t lose. We talked about that as a team every day. The boys, the whole team, didn’t want to give up a goal.

“And the whole team took pride in shutting other teams out.”

That was a big reason Kyle O’Dell faced fewer shots and had to make fewer saves than most other goalies.

“Other goalies in the area might have had more saves, but none of them had as many saves per goal as Kyle had,” Brian O’Dell said.

However, Kyle O’Dell played a role in limiting the amount of action he saw, too.

“We had a strong defense back there,” Brian O’Dell said. “His job this year was to stop the shots that were taken right on top of him. He made some great saves. But he was more in the role of moving the defense around and talking to the defenders. He did a great job of communicating with the defense.

“If he faced a shot, it was because of a major mistake by a defender. It was a little different role (than most goalkeepers have). There weren’t many shots against us. We had a lot more experienced defense (than we’ve had in past years).”

“One big reason we won 12 games was the defense didn’t let teams take a lot of shots inside the 18.”

And in the end, it was Kyle O’Dell who was ultimately the Eagles’ player that had the pressure of holding teams scoreless. He is, after all, the player protecting the net.

“In Kyle’s role, there is a lot of pressure,” Brian O’Dell said. “The other players are busting their butts to keep the other team from scoring. He better keep the ball out of the goal. The other guys were hungry for shutouts. He had some pressure.”

And Kyle O’Dell made good use of every opportunity he had from the time he was a youth player all the way through his senior season. He was always working to improve upon his skill set.

“T.J. Kirschstein, a former goalkeeper for us, has been working with him,” Brian O’Dell said. “I used to be a midfielder, so I let T.J. do a lot with him the last couple of years. Julio Gutierrez has worked with him, too. And (Geneva assistant) Joel Dixon has spent a lot of time with Kyle.

“(Edgewood coach) Kevin Santee kept Kyle (after summer workouts) and did a lot with him over the summer. (Kyle has) been fortunate enough to work and talk with other goalies. That’s helped him learn a lot. T.J. has spent a lot of time with Kyle and that’s helped him a lot.

“Kyle was lucky to be able to do some things other kids didn’t have the opportunity to do. He worked with Hector Marinaro (who played with the Cleveland Force from 1983-84 and the Cleveland Crunch from 1989-04) and Zoran Karic (who played for the Crunch from 1990-2000 and the Force from 2002-04).”

Kyle O’Dell spent two years on the same team with Kirschstein. That benefited him as well.

“(Kyle) learned how to play from T.J. when he was behind T.J. (on the depth chart) his freshman and sophomore year. When Pietro DeMichele was our goalie at Geneva, Kyle used to come out and work with him when he was little.”

Shutouts are great for a goalkeeper. It’s a column they love to fill up on the stat sheets. But the bottom line for Kyle O’Dell was getting the team a victory. And that need to win is ultimately what led him to put together the senior season he had.

“Kyle’s not one to say much (about shutouts or individual accomplishments),” Brian O’Dell said. “I know Kyle doesn’t like to lose. He wasn’t happy those times we lost. He wants to win.

“He lays himself out in goal. He gives all he has. That’s his competitive nature.”



Ettinger is a sports writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at bettinger@starbeacon.com.