Boys' Soccer Athlete of the Year: Josh Sandin

Posted 6/24/14

Josh Sandin knew he’d have to play an instrumental role on the Toll Gate soccer team if it was going to have any real success in his junior season. But a state championship? That was barely on his …

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Boys' Soccer Athlete of the Year: Josh Sandin

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Josh Sandin knew he’d have to play an instrumental role on the Toll Gate soccer team if it was going to have any real success in his junior season. But a state championship? That was barely on his radar.

“At practices, we had a bunch of jokesters on our team,” Sandin said. “We’d all just be laughing. I never thought we’d have a high school championship.”

Yet, with all the laughing that went on during the season, the Titans got the last laugh in all of Division II, beating Lincoln on penalty kicks to claim the crown.

Sandin was the Titans’ key cog.

After making an immediate difference on the team his freshman year and helping lead it to the playoffs along with his older brother, then-senior Nate Sandin, Josh Sandin battled injuries and saw Toll Gate struggle in his sophomore campaign.

In 2013, though, the pieces were in place, and Sandin made sure they didn’t go to waste. He was second in all of D-II with 26 points.

“He bangs in all the goals, or a lot of them,” said Toll Gate head coach Tim Hayes. “He’s either scoring or he’s centrally located in how we got it. He’s really fast, he’s really strong, he’s really smart.”

In short, he’s really good. He led the Titans with 15 goals his freshman year before really coming into his own this fall. With fellow forward Jose Beltran back for his senior year and Nate DaCosta joining the midfield after missing the previous season due to injury, plus a strong defense behind them, Sandin’s group jelled quickly and reached its potential.

He made sure they did.

“He’s really, really competitive,” Hayes said. “It does rub off on the other guys. He gets on other guys, but he also demands it from himself too.”

The pay-off was a state title.

“A lot of times at public schools we don’t get guys like him for four years,” Hayes aid. “It’s great to get us going again. It’s been huge for us. His brother started it and he carried it.”

-Kevin Pomeroy

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