How Gavin Egeland and Kaden Weber are filling some big shoes for Nevada in boys soccer

Kaden Weber and Gavin Egeland knew the 2024 high school boys soccer season was going to be a big adjustment for them.

After spending last season as role players behind a talented senior class, they both have stepped up into primary roles on a Cub program that made the boys state soccer tournament semifinals in Class 2A last season.

It has not always been a smooth ride. Nevada entered this week with a 6-8 record.

But Weber and Egeland have gotten more comfortable with their roles each week, and they both feel Nevada can still be a big threat when the postseason begins next week.

“Our keyword this year as a team is to have fun,” Weber said. “If you look at our losses, they’ve been by a point to really good teams. We’ve been really positive and I think for what we have, we’ve been doing really well.”

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Weber and Egeland are Nevada's two top offensive players. Cub coach Todd Sampson has moved them around, trying to find the best fit, and right now Egeland is on the left wing and Weber is up top at forward.

“They knew the expectations that we needed to replace a lot of production in goal scoring,” said Nevada coach Todd Sampson. “Both of them have stepped up. I’ve switched positions between the two of them the last couple games, but I think it’s worked out for everybody.”

Nevada entered the season needing to replace the elite scoring of Drew Robinson and exceptional playmaking ability of Edgar Cabrera and Sam Betting. Robinson had 41 goals and 11 assists, Cabrera 21 assists and nine goals and Betting 18 assists and four goals.

Kent Sponseller and Aidan Freeman also contributed heavily to Nevada's success last year, with Sponseller recording nine assists and four goals and Freeman eight assists and one score.

Both Weber and Egeland were approached by Sampson about increasing their offensive production after combining for seven goals in 2023. They knew they were not going to make up for all of the heavy losses the Cubs took, but they both came in ready to be major contributors.

“We don’t need to fully fill Kent and Edgar and Drew’s shoes,” said Egeland. “We just need to be our best version of ourselves, and the results will come.”

Through 14 games in his sophomore season, Egeland leads Nevada with nine goals. He also has one assist.

“Being brought up by a great class of seniors was awesome,” Egeland said. “I’m taking pieces of them and implementing it into my game.”

Weber, a senior, has seven goals and one assist. But he has enjoyed stepping up and becoming a team leader the most.

“I try my best to be the best captain I can be,” Weber said. “It’s been great so far. The guys are fun to be around. We just take it practice by practice and focus on what we’ve been doing well, what we’ve been doing wrong, and make adjustments from there.”

After biding his time for three years as a reserve and role player, Weber said it is nice to be able to take on his leadership role.

“It’s definitely different being a senior because you’re not being led by anyone other than the coaches,” Weber said. “You’re that guy everybody looks up to.”

His experience as a three-time state qualifier and two-time placewinner in wrestling helped prepare Weber for his role as captain on the soccer team. But the two sports also provide him with very different experiences.

Weber will wrestle at Grand View University in Des Moines next year. After the soccer season ends, he will undergo knee surgery to get healthy in time for wrestling.

He looks at soccer as a nice escape.

“Wrestling is very independent and that’s why I love it,” Weber said. “In wrestling there is so much pressure and expectations on yourself. Going into soccer I get to just open up and have fun.”

Even though Nevada has a losing record, with Weber and Egeland leading the way the Cubs have still looked formidable at times this season.

Five of Nevada's losses have come by one goal. Three of those have come against 2A No. 1 Gilbert, 2A No. 7 Perry and 3A No. 10 Newton.

“I’ve been impressed with the mental toughness and resiliency of the group, those two (Weber and Egeland) especially, being the focal points from an offensive standpoint,” Sampson said. “The whole season is a process and in the end every team had a chance to make it to state. We have to continue to grow and get better each game.”

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The Iowa high school boys soccer postseason brackets were released by the Iowa High School Athletic Association on Monday. Nevada will be the No. 2 seed in 2A Substate 6.

“These two weeks are the most important weeks of the season,” Weber said. “Everything we’ve worked on the whole season leads to this moment.”

Gilbert is the No. 1 seed in Nevada's bracket. Weber said the entire team is looking forward to getting a chance to play the Tigers again, and he wants to pull off the big upset and end his career playing at the state tournament.

“I can tell you that we are all very pumped,” Weber said. “We know how we played them the first time. That proved we can compete with anyone. I’m excited for it...we all are.”

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Gavin Egeland and Kaden Weber stand out for Nevada in boys soccer