By Jared Brush ’15 | Staff Writer

Rain, a perfect word to describe the end of the season for boy’s soccer on October 14, 2014. Rain poured on to the players and the turf, creating an atmosphere that South was not prepared for. In the district semi-finals, South was defeated by Fraser 5-0.

South played Fraser earlier in the season and lost 2-0, but even with this defeat South believed that they could still compete the second time around,  head coach Francesco Cilano said.

This however quickly changed once the whistle blew and the game started. Fraser surprised South by how well they dominated the ball.

“We were just watching the ball,” Cilano said. “We couldn’t win any balls and (were) simply put just shocked.”

Fraser scored very quickly in the first half with only eight minutes into play. South was able to regroup and defend the attack, with the help of saves from goalkeeper Evan Sutherland ’17.

Unfortunately Fraser powered their way through and were able to find holes in the defense, Brad Beddow ’15 said.

Fraser would end up scoring four goal with 16 minutes left of play in the first half, totaling to five unanswered goals. South could not get their offense running because the rain hurt their style of play.

“The way we usually play is balls over the top,”  Beddow said. “When the ball skips it make it harder for our forwards to get to it.”

Not only did it make it harder for the offense,but Sutherland also had more trouble reacting to the shots being quicker on the turf.

Even though trailing 5-0, South still came out to play strong in the second half. They changed their formation for more offense, captain Robert Durand ’15 said.

“We changed our formation so we would have more attacking players creating more chances to score,” Durand said.

Unfortunately South could not score, but they did create more scoring opportunities.

Even with a 5-0 lead, Fraser did not slow down and still attacked the net. Sutherland stood strong in the second half and did not let another shot past him.

It was an emotional game for the seniors on the team knowing that this would be the last time they would put on the South uniform, Beddow said.

“It was hard to realize that it was my last soccer game as a Blue Devil,” said Beddow.

The team ended their season with a 7-11-2 record. The season was a success in some places, but in others it wasn’t, Durand said.

“We beat North which was one of our goals, but being under .500 isn’t considered a great season and we wanted to go farther into the playoffs,” said Drew MacLeod ’15.

Over the years the seniors had some great memories with the team. Just being able to play for their school is one their memories, Durand said.

“I loved playing for my school,” Durand said. “My favorite memory was winning districts sophomore year and making it to the regional semis.”

The last game and the season as a whole will be used as a learning experience, Cilano said.

“We learned that we need to always fight throughout every minute of every game,” Cilano said. “I believe the JV and freshman teams can push the program into future success.”