Last year, Jakob Landes, junior, was brought up to play on the varsity soccer team but never scored a goal. This year on varsity, however, Landes scored twice Sept. 18 against McCluer North, earning him Athlete of the Week honors. The game started slow, according to Landes and head coach Chris Steinmetz, and Kirkwood was held scoreless in the first half.

“[He was] really just kinda looking to find the back of the net,” Steinmetz said. “He just happened to put himself in the right place at the right time.”

Landes was in the neighborhood of a pass from his teammate Christian Van Camp, junior, which led to his first goal of the day and tied the score at 1-1. Later in the game, Steinmetz gave him another opportunity when KHS was preparing to take a free kick.

“I chose him just to go ahead and take the free kick, and he just blasted one,” Steinmetz said.

The Pioneers held on to win the game 2-1, with all their goals coming from the hand (or foot) of Landes, the “goofball” who plays fast and is a very hard worker, according to his coach.

“It was just a big game, first varsity goals,” Landes said, who could be playing on the freshman team judging by his age. Steinmetz was sure to point out that fact, since Landes is only 15 and is going up against seniors on other varsity teams that are three years older than him. But that didn’t slow he or his team down on the way to their victory over the Stars.

“Get him around the box, get him around the goal, he can make some things happen,” said Steinmetz.

Update: Landes scored twice Sept. 29 against Lindbergh