Look no further than the Westfield boys soccer 2006 team photo to see how much sophomore midfielder A.J. Sheta grew during the off-season.
“If you look at last year’s team picture, he’s in the bottom on his knees,” said Westfield coach Tom Torres. “Now he’s standing up with the big guys.”
Sheta has grown three inches since he burst onto the scene for the Northern Region champions midway through the 2005 regular season, scoring on a game-winning free kick from nearly 40 yards out in his first-ever varsity start.
He’s become a reliable presence in the Bulldogs (7-0-2, 2-0-1 Concorde District) lineup ever since and this season he’s shown more than just an uncanny ability of delivering dangerous balls on set pieces. Sheta (5 goals, 7 assists) has also begun to use his muscle to control the midfield.
“When I was smaller, bigger people used to just push me off the ball,” Sheta said. “It’s a lot better now because they can’t push me off now that I’m one of the taller guys on the field.”
He’s also benefited from the tutelage and at times, ribbing, of senior forward Pat Barthold (team-high 14 goals, 7 assists), who knows Sheta’s passes out of the midfield have played a key role in his scoring success.
“This year he’s come in with more of an attitude of ‘I need to step up as a main player in this team,’ instead of going game by game,” said Barthold. “We both realize that we need to score goals and creating goal-scoring opportunities for other players.”
