The boys soccer season has officially concluded. The program this year consisted of over 100 players spread out between five teams, four JV teams, one of which was all freshman players, and the varsity team. Tryouts began on August fifteenth and the season ran through the middle of October. Varsity practiced and played on the new artificial turf at Mansfield stadium(more information about the turf in the October issue).
The Spartan boys varsity team finished the season with a record of eight wins, five ties and six losses. Sophomore varsity goalkeeper Wesley Cowles said that his favorite game of the season was their game against Arrowhead in the Arrowhead tournament. In this game, they held on to a 1-1 tie until the game regulation time was over. The game then went to penalties where two crucial saves from Cowles led to the victory. Recently, the Spartans advanced to the regional final after a 1-0 win over West with a spectacular goal by senior captain Jonah Maas in the final minutes of the game. Unfortunately, in a rematch against regional top seed Arrowhead in the final, the Spartans lost 0-2. This loss marked the end of both the season and the highschool soccer careers of the 12 graduating varsity seniors.
Varsity head coach Chad Amini stated that one of the biggest highlights of the season was being able to have a fifth team in the program and allowing everyone who tried out a spot on a team. Last year, varsity graduated 18 seniors. Amini said that the large change in roster was a challenge because not as many players were exposed to the varsity level which led to some unfortunate results, early in the season. On another note, Amini said that the new turf helped the team develop because of the higher quality environment and the turf provided consistency to play. The new turf is a major change from the previous grass field because it was a completely flat surface with no holes or divots, the flat surface means that the speed of play and quality of passing and shooting is overall better. This year, varsity had a very competitive schedule, the Spartan’s first game against Arrowhead was a great example of this. Amini echoed Cowles’ statement, saying it was one of the best and most competitive games of the season. Similarly, the Spartans beat number one seed in the state, Green Bay Notre Dame, 5-3 earlier in the season. #thankyouseniors