Frontier varsity goalkeeper proving age is just a number

Nate Hohl is a natural at playing goalie.

"If you've seen him play, he's vocal, he directs his defense and his midfielders," said Frontier coach Rich Kozak. "He controls the game from the back."

The Frontier varsity soccer coach saw those qualities at a camp during the off-season. But when he asked Hohl why he didn't come out for the varsity team, he wasn't expecting the answer he got.

"He says no, I'm here for the modified tryouts," Kozak said. "I asked his age and he said well I'm going into 7th grade."

A 12-year-old who joined the Falcons varsity team and started in goal in their very first game. He was the youngest in program history to ever do so.

"I didn't know how well I would play the first couple of games," Hohl said. "I was scared I would mess everything up and let everybody down."

But he didn't let everybody down.

Hohl has played lights out since joining the Falcons. As of the start of the week Monday morning, he had four shutouts to his name through six games. He's the true example of age being just a number.

"You have kids ask me, is he really twelve years old? And I'm like, it's crazy he is," said teammate and senior midfielder Jonah Kozak. "But you can see that's he confident in what he's dong and he knows what he's doing."

With many years of high school soccer to go, Hohl is only going to get better. He's even paved the way for other younger players to try and make the jump at an early age.

"If you work hard enough and get the right mindset, you can probably be here," he said.

"It raises the standard of our entire organization and what we're trying to do. When you can have one of the little kids come up and play with Grandma and Grandpa at the big table, that is a true Thanksgiving folks," Kozak laughed.

A celebration indeed as Frontier continues to shine under their 12-year-old goalie and the guys that back him up.

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