ALTON - While Jude Keller will makes his way to Belleville to become part of the Southwestern Illinois College soccer team this fall, his former coach at Marquette Catholic, Brian Hoener, face a dilemma.
Jude Keller of Marquette (8) controls the ball against Columbia during last season's IHSA Class 1A regional championship game at Public School Stadium. Keller scored 15 goals, had 10 assists and is the Telegraph's Small Schools Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
Keller, who repeats as the Telegaph Small School Boys Soccer Player of the Year for 2024, did so much on the field for the Explorers, replacing him and his work ethic won't be an easy task.
"He had another outstanding year for us," Hoener said. "Jude affects a game in so many ways at all three levels - he scores goals, he's a really solid playmaker and he can play defense.
"If you lose player who scores goals, you go find a goal scorer, if you lose a playmaker, you can make one of those and if you lose a defender, find a defender to replace him.
"But someone like Jude, who does all three at a high level, is difficult to replace. It's like needing to find three players."
Keller, a senior midfielder, scored 15 goals and added 10 assists in 2024. He had a pair of two-goal games in wins over rival Alton. He also scored two goals in a win over Granite City and he had a three-goal game in a victory over Metro-East Lutheran.
And he did it while he was the the main subject of opposing defenses.
"Based on prior performacne, everybody knew about Jude and they always paid him plenty of attention," Hoener said, "but he did a really solid job in spite of that. To do what he did for us as a marked man was definietly not an easy thing for him to do, but he got it done."
Keller and his teammmates raced out to a 9-1 start and finished 13-9 overall, facing the Explorers' usual tough schedule. They bowed out in the Class 1A regional championship game, losing to eventual tehstate's top-ranked team and eventual state fourth-place state finisher Columbia in overtime penalty kicks at Public School Stadium.
"Anyone who knows about Marquette knows we play as tough of a schedule as we can," Hoener said. "We may take our lumps, but it makes our players better in the long run."
That long run for Keller included four years as a starter for the Explorers. In that time, he scored a combined 50 goals and added 27 assists.
Along the way, Keller demonstrated a goood balance, Hoener said.
"He was easy to coach," Hoener said. "Jude takes coaching very well, works very hard in practice.
"But he also has the right balance, too. He worked hard, but soccer is still fun for him and he had fun."
Opposing defenses weren't the only omnes to take notice of Keller. College soccer coches did as well, in particular Lindsay Kennedy Eversmeyer at SWIC.
"Historically, she has kept track of our players," Hoener said. "Jude had some different colleges who expressed interest, but he made the decision that he thought was right for him and his situation.
"(Eversmeyer) is getting hard worker and someone who will bust his tail and who knows the game extremely well."
