NORTH TONAWANDA — At the conclusion of Tuesday’s afternoon practice at the Lumberjacks Sports Complex, North Tonawanda boys soccer captain Vinny Divirgilio urged his mates to finish strong during sprints.

The senior midfielder knows exactly what it’s like to finish on the losing end. The Jacks fell in the opening round of the 2009 Section VI playoffs to Kenmore West following a solid regular season.

Divirgilio is not about to relive that experience again this year.

“We’re trying to really bounce back,” he said. “I knew everybody was upset about losing because we were a better team than (Ken West). There’s no way we should have lost that. We let it slip from us, but this year, we’re not going to let that happen.”

Despite losing key starters Greg Hoffman and Andrew Wackenheim, Divirgilio leads a strong class of returnees.

Fellow senior captains John Laper and Alex Kaufman, as well as junior Eric Wilson form 3/4 of a strong defensive unit, a unit in which coach Tom Stefanucci dubs NT’s driving force.

“The big thing for us is we’re solid in the back,” said Stefanucci, who’s entering his seventh season as coach. “We brought everybody back [on defense] and only filled one position. That’s where we’re strong this season.”

Completing the defense between the pipes is junior goalkeeper Cory Pellegrino.

Due to NT’s challenging backfield, Stefanucci said his squad will maintain a heavy dose of a ball control attack.

“We’re a ball possession team,” he said. “We work hard, get the ball and we want to keep it.”

Last season, and in particular, the postseason matchup against the Blue Devils, the Jacks failed to cash in when it mattered most. Using the width of the field and getting the ball inside the box is something NT will look to do more often this season.

“I’m maybe a little overzealous here, but I would like to win the NFL,” Kaufman said. “I think that’s a good goal for us because we’re better this year; our team chemistry is better. Skill wise, I think we’re better, too. We have more motivation this year.”

The Jacks open up NFL play at noon on Saturday against Niagara-Wheatfield at home.

Tonawanda

James Gabor enters his second slate at the helm of the Tonawanda soccer program. This season he hopes to rebound from a rather forgetful 6-12 campaign.

He’ll have to do it without the help of departing seniors Chris Vanderbrook and Steve Deck.

The Warriors, however, return a pair of 2009 ECIC IV first-teamers in Stephen Linderman and Wil Strehlow.

Linderman, a four-year starter at midfielder, will be looked upon for leadership on and off the field, Gabor said.

Captain Neil Bandinelli is also among returning starters, but Gabor admits his team is weaker on the defensive side this year.

“I know we’re going to be hurting in back at defense and starting goalkeeper,” he said.

Over the weekend in the Dan Durick tournament, the Warriors fell to West Seneca West 7-1 before battling hard in a 2-1 defeat to Frontier.

While Gabor said his squad struggled in the opener, he liked the way his team competed against Frontier.

“If the team shows up, we should be able to compete in the division,” he said. “We’ll see what happens from here on out.”

Kenmore East

The Bulldogs return a trio of third-team All-NFL selections from a year ago in midfielder Alec Diaz, defender Jordan Wainwright and forward Dillon Olivieri.

That group, along with Garret Weaver and netminder John Becker will look to replace last year’s standouts which include Alex Azero, Scott Flynn and Erik Schmit.

Head coach Rolfe Freidenberg said he is confident his 2010 group can improve upon a 6-8 league record from a year ago.

“I think we have a very competitive group of players this year,” said Freidenberg, who is entering his fourth season as coach. “We are hoping to compete for another NFL title. We will be looking for some of our younger players to step up and contribute.”

Kenmore West

Todd Marquardt returns a Blue Devils bunch in which he said will rely on each other more than teams in the past.

Last year’s leading scorer and second-team All-NFL selection Chad Battaglia graduated in May, but Ken West returns a slew of talent.

At attack will be captains John Courtney and Nate Anastasia, while fellow captain defender Lief Reigstav will man the backfield.

“It’s been total team chemistry,” Marquardt said. “It’s not a few central players, but more of a team concept. We’re approaching it that way and that takes the pressure off some of the players.”

St. Joe’s

The Marauders will likely miss departing seniors Zach Smidt, Dan Smith and Matt Coad and a combined total of 25 goals.

Senior midfielder Connor Celotto and juniors David Arthur and Braden Scales will need to fill their shoes.

Following a 9-6-3 overall record and a trip to the state semifinals a year ago, head coach Mike Thoin is thinking big.

“As long as we stay healthy, we’ll have a very good year,” Thoin said. “We possess the ball really well. We just have to figure out who is going to step up and put the ball in the net for us.”

Cardinal O’Hara

Korean transfer student and starting kicker for the Hawks’ football squad, Soo Young Park, will look to improve on his 16-goal campaign last season to lead O’Hara on the pitch in 2010.

Third-year coach Eric Shaw will have to replace midfielder John Mellas and leading point scoring striker, Tom Wilkey, but he maintains a positive outlook on the season.

“We lost nine seniors, but we have a good core group of guys,” Shaw said. “We have a great group of guys that are busting their butt and really want to work and that carries over.”

Colin Tate, Ian Kroening and John Nowak also headline Shaw’s returning players.

Contact sports editor Brandon Koch at 693-1000, ext. 117.