Before the season began, Mehlville boys soccer head coach Todd Lauer — who’s heading into his fifteenth year with the program — knew this year would be different.
“We had an unprecedented number (try) out this year. We had 90 guys; in comparison, last year, we had 65. So we were up about 25 guys from where we typically are. I don’t know if it’s just World Cup — leftover from that, all the kids are excited about that and want to come out and play soccer — or what it was,” he said. “We definitely had a big uptick this year.”
This made the already-difficult process of deciding teams, thus cutting players, even more challenging, though in the team-making process it became clear that the program could handle another team; thus, Mehlville’s freshman team was formed.
“Now we actually have three teams down to try to build on,” Lauer said.
The large number of athletes who tried out translates directly to this year’s varsity squad, with 22 players on the 2026 roster. Thirteen seniors will play for the Panthers this season — one of Lauer’s largest-ever groups of twelfth graders — along with two juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen.
Leading the squad will be senior captains Dante Fogelbach and twin brothers Christian and Cohen Gardner.
“They play club at a high level, but they’re guys that are just consistent team guys that I can always count on. They motivate the guys. They help me with the coaching side a little bit, because they keep those guys accountable for things. Those are my guys I rely on the most,” Lauer said.
In addition to the three captains, Lauer shared that while it is still early on, senior Eldar Cavcic is emerging as another leader on the field.
“(He) wasn’t able to play for us last year, but (he) is back for us for his senior year. He is what I would call a game changer. He’s a guy that anytime the ball is on his foot — he plays wing — you feel like he could beat the guy, get to the goal and give us an opportunity to score.”
The younger players on the squad have also impressed Lauer with their hard work at practice.
“They’re going to battle to get some playing time and again kind of hold the older guys accountable. They’re high-energy type guys that are going to keep pushing the older guys, which is nice,” he said.
As far as biggest strengths this season, Lauer pointed again to the hard work he’s noticed the team putting in, as well as their top-notch technical abilities.
“I’ve been doing this for a while, but I just sense there’s something different about this group. I’m just excited to see how things start and where we end up, because I think we’ve got a special group. Not only talented, but I just feel like personality-wise, it’s a good group of guys that’s going to blend well and give me a good team that, hopefully, gets better day by day,” Lauer said.
The Panthers are heading into the 2026 season with a goal of getting better each day and after each game, despite the outcome. Their hope is that by doing this, they will have a successful playoff run in October
“We had a good shot last year. We fell a little bit short,” Lauer said of the 2025 district tournament. “I’m bringing back a good group, so for us, it’s just going to be, no matter what happens, turn the page. We just keep moving forward and hope to get better day by day. At the end of the day, hopefully we get a shot to win that district title.”
The Panthers will start their 2026 season at home against Vianney on Aug. 28.