We reached out to Queen’s Grant High School Stallions coach Mark Guercio who is expecting to have another competitive season in a very tough 1-A Conference.

1.   What has the team stressed in practices? We have a number of new faces on the team this year, so developing a common style of play both offensively and defensively has been key.

2. What are your team strengths? Many of our returning players are on the offensive side of the ball.

3. In what area do you need improvement? Our younger players lack experience.

4. How potent is your offense this season? After loosing Mario Portillo and Jaimie Escobar Membrano, most people would feel we would drop off; however, we are returning a 20 goal score in Micah Parker.

5. How would you rate your defense? Goalkeeper? We lost two seniors on that side of the ball in our keeper Jacob Goodman and center back Alex Ramsey. We have two freshman stepping into those roles. Their improvement throughout the season will be paramount for our continued success as a team.

6.What do you want the team to accomplish this year? As always, we hold ourselves to a very high standard. We play in the toughest 1-A conference in the state. If we put ourselves in position to compete with the likes of Community School, Pine Lake, and Union, then we should be on the right foot heading into states.

7. Where do you stack-up in the PAC 7 1-A Conference? It is hard to tell. Due to my mission work overseas, we are starting out two weeks late. Last year we finished third in a tightly contested conference. I have faith that we can do that again.

8. What are your realistic expectations for this season? We have enough returning players to have the expectation to compete for a top three spot in the conference. A conference or state championship will depend on how well our underclassmen develop.

The Queen’s Grant Stallions currently have 23 games on their schedule for the season. They will open up away against non-conference opponent Corvian Community School Thursday, August 22nd at 4:00 pm. The team will have it’s home opener on Monday, August 26th at 5:30 pm when they host the Greater Cabarrus Stallions in Matthews.