The York boys soccer team knows all about the importance of having a strong attack from the center midfield.

Simply put, without solid play in the middle, it’s almost impossible to win.

“Right up the center of the field is our back bone,” York coach Markus Roy said. “When we have success (it) is because we control the game.”

The Dukes (10-7-1) play a 4-4-2 formation with two center midfielders, and revolve three players — Eric Moreau, Stefan Salzano and Mario Grana — within those two spots.

Moreau is the most offensive-minded of the three — the senior scored one of York’s two goals in a 2-1 victory Saturday over West Chicago.

Salzano is more defensive oriented. He uses his height to his advantage on header opportunities, and in general excels at reading the game, Roy said.

Grana, meanwhile, is more of a combination of the two: great at challenging opponents on defense, but also good at distributing the ball.

“When they play well, usually the team plays well,” Roy said.

It takes a certain type of player to be able to control the center of the field. According to Roy, a good center midfielder has to understand how to tactically handle the pace of the game, be it on offense and defense. When the ball is at that player’s feet, he has to be comfortable with controlling the ball, and just as importantly has to know when — and be able to — distribute the ball to his teammates.

There are plenty of good professional center midfielders for high schoolers to model their game after, but Roy prefers to use former Chicago Fire player Peter Novak as an exemplar of the position.

“(Novak) controlled many aspects of a game,” Roy said. “He had vision. He was able to quickly transition from defense to offense. And just as importantly, Novak knew when to hold on to the ball, and when to pass it off to a teammate.”