By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

BUCKFIELD – Chris Reuter is one of those players who makes everyone around him better, and it doesn’t just apply to teammates.

First-year coach John Trenoweth discovered that last year. When he stepped into a new coaching job with a young Buckfield boys’ soccer team, he had some adjusting to do. Fortunately, he had Reuter to help.

“I knew how the kids looked up to him and still do, and that any problems that were brought up, I didn’t have to address them alone,” said Trenoweth. “I was just starting to learn most of these kids for the first time myself. To have someone there to fall back on was a big help.”

As a junior, Reuter established himself as a team leader. He was an All-State midfielder and helped lead the Bucks to the Western D semifinals, the farthest the team had been in a non-open tourney since 1997.

Trenoweth says that leadership has remained a constant this year. As Reuter goes, so go the Bucks.

“Those types of leadership skills that come from Chris are just amazing,” said Trenoweth. “His vision for the whole team and his goals for the whole team, were to just be there at the end last year. He wanted to make sure his team was a solid team.”

With Jamie Hendersen moving from football to soccer this fall, he’s been working with Reuter to prepare for this season.”

Reuter says taking such a role wasn’t something he looked for but embraced when the opportunity arose.

“There wasn’t really a lot of seniors, so somebody had to do it,” said Reuter, a senior. “It was just a natural thing.”

His leadership isn’t limited to off the field either. Playing in the midfield, he hopes he can be the one to make the team go even further this year. With a more experienced team around him, especially up front, Reuter is looking forward to wheeling and dealing from the halfback position. After playing up front initially, he moved to the midfield last year and found it suited his game.

“I could do a lot more,” said Reuter, who has also played up front at times in the preseason. “We had offensive midfielders and defensive midfielders last year. I was an offensive midfielder, but I could still get back.”

He has senior Rex Wilkinson up front and a wealth of returning halfbacks in Andrew Litchfield, Cy Wilkinson, Jon Condon and Zac Cowett. With balance up front and in the midfield, Reuter knows he’ll have more options to feed off. It could also create more opportunities for him.

“We have more weapons,” said Reuter. “They’re going to have to concentrate on them and on me. It’s going to give us a lot more chances, and it’s going to open up the scoring. So we might not have a lot of defensive games.”

With Justin Dodge back in goal and Austin Abbott, Nathan Wade, Josh Bryant, Casey Kangas, Ben Libby and Dan Danforth all returning to the defense, the Bucks have a solid lineup all the way around.

“We’re looking pretty good,” said Reuter. “We gained a lot of experience last year, and I think we can use that this year, especially with Waynflete moving up to C. The only team standing in our way is Richmond.”

Trenoweth already sees a difference in Reuter’s game and subsequently the Bucks.

“I expect him to step it up to the next level as well,” said Trenoweth. “He’s making things happen out there that I didn’t see last year. We were basically a boot-and-run team. I really see us being a much better controlled offensive team.”