Central focus

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Jake Dube stands at the center of the Lakewood Ranch boys’ soccer team’s productivity.

As the Mustangs’ center midfielder, the senior captain is responsible for putting Lakewood in a position to be successful. Every play moves through Dube, and it’s up to him to take control and communicate where the ball is going to go.

Dube, a four-year varsity player, switched to center midfield from right midfield at the beginning of the season. While Dube admits he’ll always gravitate toward right midfield, he’s embraced the change.

Center midfield requires more technical ability and vision than his previous position, but it’s also allowed Dube to take charge of the team and control the field, which only fuels his competitive spirit.

“Center midfield is a lot harder,” says Dube, who also plays center midfield for the Lakewood Ranch Chargers U18 team. “It requires a lot more work because everything starts through you. If you mess up, then the other team will get the ball. It requires more authority.”

The transition has proved beneficial for Dube and the Mustangs, who have a 9-2-3 record through the first 14 games of the season. Dube already has scored a career-high nine goals, bettering his mark of six goals from last season.

As a right midfielder, Dube focused more ofhis attention on his defensive effort, but now Dube has become an integral part of the Mustangs’ offense.

“I feel a lot more free to push up — probably more than I should,” Dube says. “I’m very competitive. I don’t like to lose, so I tend to push myself more.”

Dube began playing soccer when he was 4 years old after his neighbor talked him into playing soccer instead of football. But it wasn’t until he was 13 years old and earned a scholarship to IMG Academy that Dube became confident enough in his skill set to want to pursue the sport in college.

Dube joined the Mustangs’ varsity squad as a freshman and has helped lead Lakewood to a pair of district championships, a regional championship and a berth in the state semifinals for the first time in school history last season.

This season, Dube has Lakewood off to another impressive start. Playing arguably their toughest schedule in recent years, Dube is confident the Mustangs have the ability to get back to the state semifinals. It’s just a matter of believing in one another and having the confidence to push on down the stretch.

“This is probably the best Lakewood Ranch team that I’ve been on,” Dube says. “We’re young, but the work ethic is the most unbelievable that I’ve seen.”

With the first half of his senior season in the books, Dube is already looking ahead to the postseason even though the district tournament is still nearly a month away. But for a player who has seen historic success firsthand, there’s only one thing that could put this season in a category all its own.

“I would like to leave this school with a state championship,” Dube says. “Then I would’ve accomplished something to feel success.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].