With Columbia, Waterloo and Gibault all enjoying success this season, it’s a fine time to be a high school soccer player in Monroe County.

All three schools are among the best of the best in the area, and all look primed to be able to make deep postseason runs.

Perhaps overlooked in all of that talent is Valmeyer. The Pirates are very quietly having the best season in school history. The Pirates have reeled off four straight victories, bringing them to a school-record nine wins on the year.

Head coach Neil Siburt attributed his team’s success to balance and chemistry.

“It has been a mix of everything,” he said. “We have done a much better job on the defensive side of the ball. Our offense has been able to score all season long. We have a freshman goalie (Andrew Whipple) that is the first goalie to play every game in goal for us this season. We have never had that type of consistency.”

The Pirates have been fortunate to avoid major injuries, Siburt added.

Last week, senior Hunter Brewer notched his 30th career goal to become the all-time leading scorer in Valmeyer soccer history. Siburt noted that Brewer and fellow seniors Matt Hemenway and Dylan Long have been a key part of the program’s emergence, both with their skill, and their leadership, helping younger players adjust to the level of play and acting as role models.

“Hunter has helped Andrew (Whipple) tremendously with goal positioning. Matt has been that player that will play injured or not.  He is the type of player that you can’t take off the field even when exhausted.  He sets a good tone for the rest of the players and they feed off his energy,”Siburt said. “Dylan has really done a great job of solidifying the defense. All three of them have played together for three years now, and it really shows on the field.”

Even with the prospect of losing his seniors to graduation, Siburt hopes his program can continue to have success beyond this season. The head coach is looking to use this year’s success as a springboard to build the program. That starts with getting more kids interested in joining the team.

“Just being successful draws more interest for other students to play,” he said. “It shows that we can compete with the bigger schools from time to time.”

Siburt also thinks the interest in soccer starts with getting kids involved at a young age.

“We need to keep pushing younger kids to get involved in soccer at an early age,” he said.

The head coach also recognized the importance of staying committed to the game, especially during the offseason.

“We are trying to get a soccer program set up for the winter and summer, so students can keep playing throughout the year,” he said. “Students from other schools like Gibault, Waterloo, and Columbia play year-round, and it shows. If we want to compete with them we need to do the same.”

The Pirates will wrap up the regular season portion of its historic 2014 campaign this Thursday when they host Hancock.

In other soccer action, Columbia beat Freeburg, 1-0, last Tuesday. Sean Rickey scored the game’s lone goal.

In the Gateway Classic over the weekend, the Eagles defeated McCracken County, Ky., on Friday, 1-0. Ryan Gudeman scored in the first half, and that was all Columbia would need.

That victory set the Eagles up with a Saturday morning showdown with Neuqua Valley, a Class 3A powerhouse from