Perryville High has assembled a star-studded cast to coach its boys lacrosse team. Chris Soper, an All-American attackman at Salisbury, is the new head coach. An assistant for the Panthers the last two seasons, Soper has a great deal of coaching experience. After starring at Salisbury, he served as an assistant coach in 1994 when the Sea Gulls won their first NCAA Division III national title.
After a stint working clinics for Bacharach Lacrosse, Soper coached in the Dublin-Darlington Recreation Council and then joined the Upper Chesapeake Mavericks, a club team based in Bel Air. Cecil County athletes participate in both of those programs. With Dublin-Darlington and the Mavericks, Soper coached many players who are in high school. "It was a natural progression to start coaching in high school," Soper said. "I enjoy coaching. I love the game and I enjoy being a part of it. Coaching allows me to still be involved and give back." A native of Baltimore County, Soper started playing lacrosse when he was five years old. He attended high school at Loyola Blakefield. Soper is a sales manager for The Kraft Heinz Company. He and his wife, Tracy, moved to Port Deposit in 2003. Soper understands he will have to adapt his coaching style to the type of team he has. "Everyone would like to play an up tempo game," he said. "You need depth to do that so we will have to play smart. We are going to improve the overall lacrosse IQ. We have talent here." Soper has taken advantage of his lacrosse connections to comprise an all-star coaching staff. Assistant coach Justin Parker, who played at UMBC is the defensive coordinator. Offensive coordinator Colin Carr was an All-American at Pfeiffer College. Goalie coach Scott Bentkowski earned All-America honors at Salisbury. Two local men with experience coaching youth lacrosse are also part of the staff. Chris Johnson, Perryville's football and JV boys basketball coach, will be in charge of the JV squad. Rob Burns will be a JV assistant. Soper replaces Brandon Townsend, who last guided the Panthers to one of their most successful seasons in program history. Perryville finished second in the Susquehanna Division, won a first round playoff game, and defeated Rising Sun for the first time in six years. Comments are closed.
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