Scheels Athlete of the Week: Versatile Solon Senior Bruck Off to a Stellar Start for Unbeaten Spartans
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
SOLON – Dillon Bruck has the skill set to impact a soccer match from anywhere on the field.
Throughout the early part of his prep career the plan for the Solon coaching staff was to have Bruck make his mark as a goalkeeper.
“Going into last season we didn’t know what we were going to have as a keeper and I was thinking he was going to be our guy and the Covid year we were planning on him being our keeper,” long-time Solon coach Jeremy McMurrin explained. “That skill set he’s had we knew it was there and we knew we could take advantage of it when needed.”
Bruck showed he was capable of excelling in goal or in the field during a strong junior season.
Ultimately the decision was made to move Bruck out of goal and let him use his combination of size, speed and skill to create goals rather than stop them.
There was never a wrong way to use the multi-talented Bruck on a soccer field but the Solon senior has found his home as a dynamic playmaker.
Bruck has scored in every match this season and currently leads the state with 13 goals while helping Solon (5-0) to an unbeaten start to the season while outscoring opponents 33-1.
“I feel like from last year to this year we are really working better as a team,” Bruck said. “We only lost one senior from last year and 12 of us were coming back and we have that chemistry going forward.”
Bruck appeared in just four matches as a freshman in 2019 and had his sophomore season wiped out by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He burst onto the scene a year ago scoring 20 goals and adding five assists to help Solon to a 13-6 record and a spot in a 1A substate final where he moved back to goal keeper in a 3-2 penalty kick loss to Regina.
“We knew he could play in goal but we’ve really seen him grow as a field player,” McMurrin said. “Between his freshman and sophomore year he improved a lot and especially his sophomore to junior year he’s really become a weapon for us.”
This season Bruck has continued to blossom as an offensive weapon for the Spartans.
He has scored multiple goals in three of the Spartans’ five matches this season including four in a 10-0 season-opening win over West Delaware and five in a 10-0 win over Wapello on Saturday.
Bruck also has an assist and leads all classes with 27 points.
“He’s big so he is dangerous in the air in the box and obviously he has a great shot but he has pace,” McMurrin said. “At this level he can be very dangerous for us but just in general as a soccer player he’s a very dangerous player.”
Bruck was at his best in a 4-0 win over perennial power Regina last Thursday.
After suffering a pair of losses to the Regals last season including the substate final Bruck scored two goals in the first win for Solon over Regina since 2007.
“We looked at the games from last year and what we could do better,” Bruck said. “They are really good on the ball and we learned from that.”
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