Monday, Oct. 06, 2008

Maroons' Rudolph isn't just a scorer; West senior has all the tools

BELLEVILLE -- Opponents know his specialty, but they're powerless to stop it.

Seth Rudolph, a senior at Belleville West, is a goal-scoring machine. And he's among several reasons the Maroons (14-2-1) could be on their way to a berth in the Class 3A state soccer tournament in November.

Speed? Rudolph possesses it in abundance.

Instinct? Rudolph never is far from the ball.

Skill? Sometimes two defenders aren't enough to contain him.

Intangibles? Second-year Maroons coach Blake Decker sees them every day from Rudolph, whether in practice or games.

"He leads in a way that's not necessarily vocal. He does it by example," Decker said. "In addition to being athletically talented, he works for everything he gets and he's extremely humble about all the success that he has. It's an absolute pleasure to work with a player like that."

Rudolph leads West with 17 goals after collecting 18 last season, nine as a sophomore and one as a freshman. He's as quick to point out the contributions of teammates who set up his scores as he is when he splits a pair of defenders to unleash a shot on goal.

"It's been a good season for me," said the 5-foot-7, 155-pound forward. "I have a lot of help around me because we have a really good team this year. If I have a bad game, someone else will step up for me.

"I've always been really good at scoring. That's one of the things I'm good at --putting the ball in the back of the net. But you've got to have people around you to help you do that."

Rudolph means that. He's not simply trying to say the right things to appease teammates. It's not lip service.

"I learned young that it's a team sport. It's not just what one player does," Rudolph said. "With soccer, you have 11 guys on the field. If you're a jerk, you're not going to get the ball to do what you can do. You have to have respect for the people around you to be able to play as a team. If you're not playing as a team, you normally don't win games.

"We have great team chemistry. We all enjoy playing with each other."

Making an impact

Rudolph was a major factor in two Maroons wins last week. On Tuesday, he was fouled hard on the left wing, setting up a free-kick goal by junior Rodney Tenholder that gave West a 1-0 win over visiting Granite City.

On Thursday, Rudolph wasn't even expected to play because of a sore left shoulder and right leg. He entered the game 10 minutes into the first half and scored 10 minutes later on a long feed from senior Rob Beatty as the Maroons defeated host Belleville East 1-0 to win the city championship.

After the game, Decker didn't have to worry about Rudolph popping off or guarding against a swelling ego.

"While he enjoys the accolades and the individual success, it's really about the team and whether or not the team is successful," Decker said. "The other thing is he's not your traditional goal-scorer who only wants to work for the ball when it's around the goal.

"He's just as important to us on the defensive side of the ball because of the work rate he puts in game in and game out. Typically, he's one that's in there for 80 minutes, and he's working at maximum capacity for those entire 80 minutes. It's not a situation where (Rudolph says), 'Everyone else's job is to defend so I can get the ball and score.' It's all 11 of them defending and it starts with him."

Off to GW

Rudolph has committed to George Washington University, a Division I program that competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Rudolph enjoyed his visit to the Washington, D.C., campus and appreciated the commitment of coach George Lidster and assistant Bryan Davis.

"I'm happy with the decision," Rudolph said. "They'll give me a great education and their soccer team's good, too. It's just a great school to go to. I've been out there and I like the area.

"I may play an outside mid my freshman year, but (Lidster) is recruiting me as a striker. I like their coaching staff. They're trying to build their program."

Decker believes the Colonials are a good fit for Rudolph. They spotted him at a soccer showcase in Dallas last February.

"They started having contact with him there," Decker said. "There's good, young coaching talent there and they're very excited about him. They feel they've found a diamond in the rough, so to speak, in picking him up. He's very excited about it and I know in talking with the coach that they're excited about having him as well."

A final mission

West's goal to reach the state tournament for the first time in school history begins Oct. 21 when it plays East in the semifinals of the West Regional.

If the No. 1-seeded Maroons survive the regional --which also includes Collinsville and O'Fallon --they will have to navigate through a difficult Normal Community Sectional and the Normal Community West Super-Sectional to punch their ticket for the state tournament Nov. 7-8 in Naperville.

"The whole team has high hopes for this season," Rudolph said. "I think if we play to our potential and play to our strength and play how we can, we can definitely go to the state tournament and do some damage up there. That's something I would like to do in my last year. It's one of the things you always want to do."

Contact reporter David Wilhelm at dwilhelm@bnd.com.