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Sarah Ritter

Hard Work Beats Talent

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Kyle Owen, Jack Immesoete and Caleb Ragland are set to continue leading the Leatherneck men’s soccer program nearly four years after winning a share of the Summit League Regular Season Championship.

It's been exactly 1,245 days since Western Illinois men's soccer defeated Oral Roberts to earn a share of the 2019 regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the Summit League Tournament.
 
A roster of three seniors, eight juniors, seven sophomores and 12 freshmen came together and fought their way to claim the sweet taste of victory for the fifth time in program history.
 
Four years later, after the likes of Tim Trilk and Ryan DeBois have graduated, just three players remain from that title-winning team and are in position to usher in a new era of Leatherneck men's soccer: Kyle Owen, Jack Immesoete and Caleb Ragland.
 
A lot has changed in the last four years – players have left the program, graduated, started careers – and, though the trio of veteran players are still around, they also have changed a great deal. Guys who came in as quiet freshmen now play different roles in leading a young roster.
 
"The similar thing about all of them is they were pretty quiet as freshmen, just looking around and figuring out what their role was," head coach Dr. Eric Johnson said. "Where Kyle and Caleb played quite a bit, Jack's playing time has probably changed the most - he had to grow a little bit physically and then he just kept getting better and better because he works so hard."
 
In an era when it's never been easier to change schools, having three players stick in one spot for more than four years is something that is becoming increasingly rare. Despite that, the trio's commitment is something Johnson says is not surprising.
 
"Those three are the kind of student athletes you want to recruit. Knowing what kind of people they are I didn't expect them to leave, but there's still guys that have left. It just says that these guys like to finish what they start," Johnson said. "They're really good leaders, they're good players, they check all of the boxes and are exactly what you of your student athletes so we're really fortunate that they're here.
 
"They're going to get master's degrees and they're going to be the leaders of this team," Johnson added. "It's really critical that they're coming back."
 
Since coming to campus as quiet freshmen, all three have developed into key cogs in the Western Illinois lineup. Last season, Owen was a team captain and All-Summit Honorable Mention selection after scoring four goals and adding an assist. Ragland made 11 starts in 13 total appearances and Immesoete scored two goals and added two assists in 13 starts.
 
Beyond the on-field success, Johnson says, it's all about the little things each player does that makes a positive impact on the program.
 
"Culture is all about being part of something that's bigger than yourself and you can see it with those guys. One example is that we're training out at Hanson and have to move the goals every single practice, and those three are moving the goals every single time," Johnson said. "Some seniors would think that's below them but they set an example to their teammates and it brings everybody together.
 
"We need that kind of leadership but we also need the tactical knowledge when they're leading guys on restarts, showing them how to prepare for a game, making people around them better with the information they provide, the communication and encouragement. They set the standard with everything we do," Johnson added.  "They all are good students, so they set a standard there as well, and so they're exactly what we need from a leadership perspective."
 
This leadership is something that is more important than ever to the program. The team is young, with Johnson noting a steep drop off in age after a group of five graduate students, two seniors and two juniors making way to a roster with 12 underclassmen
 
The responsibility to lead isn't lost on these veteran players either, even with a mature freshman class.
 
"We all have to step up and be more influential leaders than we already are but I think this freshman class is a pretty mature class," Owen said. "We have a bunch of guys that want to be leaders and try to be the next dogs up here once they are seniors like we are.
 
"It's good to get freshmen experience right away so that once they get older then they become more comfortable on the field and playing at this level," Ragland added. "It does take some getting used to though. This is kind of the first year where there's nobody above us as far as experience so we have to set that standard where this is our team now. We have to help run things."
 
Central to this commitment to leading younger players is an understanding of the work it takes to taste the sweetness of winning a league title, and natural talent alone isn't enough to win a championship – it takes a great deal of hard work.
 
"That's what Coach Johnson preaches every day: it's not about who you are coming out of high school, it's what you do when you get here on this field and in the training room. You've got to out-work everyone else to be the best," Owen said. "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.
 
"It takes really hard work to win so we just try and set the example basically," Immesote added. "It can be difficult to get the most talented players here so you have to work extremely hard."
 
Beyond the hard work is a family-like atmosphere that reaches well beyond the group of teammates a player has during their time in Macomb.
 
"A lot of guys stick around the program for a long time and are really tight - it's kind of like a family thing. We're really close with a lot of the guys, even the ones that are gone now, so we just want to continue that," Ragland said. "Even with guys that we never played with, they are long gone but we still know them well, they come back and see us and want to talk to us about the games and stuff like that. They care.
 
"And these two (Immesote and Owen) as well," Ragland added. "It's been huge that us three have stuck together this whole time. We live together and are really good friends."
 
With these positive relationships and a commitment to leading, the goal remains exactly the same even four years later: win the league.
 
"After winning the league our freshman year I wanted to come back and win it again. We didn't do it the last few years but I think we have a good chance this year," Owen said. "I want to win another Summit League title before I go.
 
"Winning the league was the best," Immesote added. "We know what it feels like to win and have been chasing that ever since."
 
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