Jason Potzer was announced as the new head girls soccer coach at Kinnelon, replacing Steve Racine who retired at the end of last season.
Potzer has been the coach at High Point for the past three seasons, and before that he was the assistant boys coach at Bernards from 2001-08. As coach at High Point he went 37-18-5 and won the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament titles in '09 and '11.
Potzter started teaching at Kinnelon full-time last season, but since there were no open positions with either soccer team, he was allowed to remain head coach of High Point.
"I had 13 seniors last year and I brought a lot of them up, a lot of them played varsity and were a part of the '09 championship," Potzer said. "There was no opening at Kinnelon at that point so they let me stay. I definitely had good girls at High Point that I had relationships with but with teaching full time (at Kinnelon), it was the right thing to do."
Racine retired at the end of last season after going 129-47-17. He led the Colts to the Group I state and sectional finals, won five conference championships and Morris County Tournament titles in '08 and '09. Kinnelon was the runner-up last season.
"Everyone is familiar with Steve, he's recognized nationally for what he's done with girls soccer," Potzer said. "It's difficult to step into his shadow, the expectations are set high with work ethic and the girls are going to make the transition easy. There's a lot of pressure coming into a program that's already very strong."
Potzer has already met with the team and has held a few summer training sessions. The Colts only lost four seniors and have a strong core of starting players returning this season, including Ingrid DiClemente and Chalen Noble, and a talented group of freshmen coming in.
Potzer said he has spoken to some of the players about the goals for this season, and he said that the team is aiming to place better in states and get to the MCT final. The Colts also have their sights set on the matchup against Glen Rock, a team they have struggled against in recent years.
"I'm excited to come out and meet any girls I haven't met yet and just to see them all play together," Potzer said. "I'm really excited for this year, there's a lot of returning players and the expectations are really high so I'm excited to get out and see them play as a group."
