Central soccer needed 15 years to reach the apex of program history. Less than half that time later, the Indians faded to their all-time low.

Started in 1988, Central soccer recorded back-to-back 20 win seasons in 2001 and 2002, culminating with a national ranking and disappointing postseason exit. The Indians stand barely more than six years removed from those glory days but have won only seven games since the start of the 2006 season.

The leader of a once respected and feared team, Central coach Mark Peterson tasks himself with restoring a tradition despite an overwhelming run of disappointment.

“I’m working with a great group of kids. That’s what keeps me coming back,” said Peterson, now in his 11th season at the Indians’ helm. “I think we can; I think we already are. We already have the respect, I think, from coaches; I think we have our respect from officials.

“I think the respect from the other teams’ players comes when you start beating them again, start turning those losses to wins.”

Peterson came to Central in 1997 as an assistant coach.

A high school player at Oak Park and graduate of Missouri Western, Peterson took over as head coach in 1999 and immediately reaped success with a burgeoning program. The Indians went 10-12-1 in his initial campaign that included a 2-1 victory against Blue Springs that Peterson describes as a watershed moment.

Central trailed 1-0 in the home matchup before earning the comeback victory.

From there, the wins increased, starting with 13 in the first of five straight winning seasons. Central became a power in the Suburban League, and four years into Peterson’s tenure, the Indians put together the magical 24-2-1 campaign of 2002 that included the school’s second district championship and first conference title.

“I don’t know if you can attribute it to one thing,” Peterson said. “I think it’s going to be a combination of a lot of stuff. Was it the right place at the right time? I don’t know if it’s that.

“But I know coming in that one of the things that we were asked to do is come in — and people were excited about soccer here — and they wanted to take it to the next level, whatever that level is. You know, being able to compete against those Kansas City schools.”

In 2002, Central’s only regular season loss came to Liberty, the draw against Park Hill South.

The Indians then advanced to the postseason for a second straight year while earning a No. 12 national ranking from Student Sports, a national high school publication. Central lost 3-1 to Rockhurst in the Class 3 quarterfinals, an identical result to the 2001 season.

The Indians haven’t returned to the playoffs since, following with back-to-back 15-win campaigns before the victory total dropped to 11, then three, then two, then one. Cory Brooks, a 2003 graduate and 2002 all-state performer, believes Peterson, who earned his 100th career victory in 2005, can’t take the blame.

“What it comes down to is we had been playing together since we were little kids,” Brooks said. “The coaching staff is great. They’re great people. They do a great job of training us to be good athletes in a competitive league.”

In just more than a decade, Peterson produced double-digits worth of collegiate players, including all-staters Isaac Unruh (2001 graduate) and Bret Loving (2002 graduate). That duo helped Graceland to an NAIA national title in 2006, where Loving converted a penalty kick and Unruh made the winning save in a 7-6 shootout victory against Asuza Pacific.

Unruh earned tournament MVP honors, while Loving was named an All-American.

But Central’s last all-state player came in 2004 and clearly the dynamic shifted in recent years. Ask Brooks and Peterson about Central’s biggest disadvantage, and the answer proves simple: numbers.

While Suburban League foes like Liberty and Raymore-Peculiar don’t have to split their talent with other high schools, St. Joseph boasts four high schools in a city comparable to Lee’s Summit or Blue Springs. Lee’s Summit contains three high schools, Blue Springs two.

Central’s roster earlier this decade consisted of close to 50 players, while now the Indians have about 30. Most other teams in the Suburban League have enough participation to field a varsity, junior varsity and “C” team.

“Welcome to public high school,” Peterson said. “It’s different than the college and the professional (ranks). The bigger cities in Kansas City, they just have more kids that come out, and they can just reload. Where we’re at, the size of city that we have and the number of schools, just mathematically (bad seasons) happen.”

Brooks and his teammates grew up playing on the same competitive youth team.

But not all players gravitate to soccer like that group, and Peterson knows current players have many choices to make during the offseason regarding which sports to play. Brooks still believes the youth programs in St. Joseph need to help provide a larger number of players to all of the high schools.

Central’s current varsity roster features nine of its 15 players as sophomores or freshmen.

“What we need to do to improve Central soccer is have a stronger youth program that feeds people to whatever school they choose to go to,” said Brooks, a junior-varsity player as a freshman and three-year starter. “Competition breeds success. So by having 50 guys go out for a soccer team, that’s not as good as having 70, 80 guys go out for a soccer team. When we were freshman, it was an honor to be on the varsity team.

“You can’t just step in as a freshman and expect to compete at the varsity level.”

Jake Funck, a current senior, grew up watching Central’s record-setting squads.

He always dreamed of the chance to emulate that success, but his final season continues to wind to another bitter finish. The Indians currently stand at 1-9, and Funck’s four years represent the worst stretch in program history. They last won a conference game in 2007, and most of the recent wins came against fellow city competition.

Funck continues to play out his career with no regrets and full faith in Peterson.

“You can’t always win, but it’s always your dream to be on the winning team,” said Funck, a three-year starter. “But as long as you’re working hard and having fun, it’s all good.”

Not all potential players have that attitude.

Central lost the 200th game in program history early in 2008. Still 19 wins shy of 200, there’s no telling how much time the Indians will need to accomplish that milestone.

But as long as Peterson still prowls the sideline — now with Loving and fellow former player Kane Brooner on his staff — Central will continue the search for victories with the same focus he tried to implement when he took over the program in 1999 — the same set of values that led to success earlier this decade.

“We tried to instill that tradition of hard work, don’t quit, don’t give up,” Peterson said. “You’re going to earn your respect on the field with how hard you work and how hard you play. That’s what you’re going to be remembered for.”