The boys varsity soccer team recently finished off their season by advancing to the playoffs and regional round.  They played three total playoff games, against Fordon High School, Grosse Pointe North and U of D Jesuit.

According to defenseman, Ian Foy ’21, the team put extra thought and preparation for those games.

“For each district game we watched the film on the team we played and formulated a strategy according to how each team played.  In addition, we had practices every day except for days after games,” Foy said.

Bennett Smihal ’21, the team’s goalkeeper, felt that the extra hard work and focus applied for the playoff season helped them in their games.

“Something good that the team was able to do was stay focused, and we all worked really hard out there,” Smihal said.

The team earlier in the season had tied both games with their rival, Grosse Pointe North, and according to Foy, he felt that beating them was a great accomplishment for the team.

“It was probably my favorite game I’ve ever actually played in because in the two games that we played North before districts we tied 1-1 each time so it was really relieving that we didn’t come all the way in the playoffs for nothing and got to beat our school rival in our biggest game of the year,” Foy said.

Being one of the three captains on the team, senior Connor Stencel ’20 is happy with what the boys were able to accomplish together.

“As a captain I am proud of these boys for their hard work and leadership abilities on and off the field,” Stencel said.

According to Stencel, not only did their practices and teamwork motivate them but their fans and support did, too.

“My favorite part of the playoffs was definitely the student section,” Stencel said. “They motivated us, gave us confidence and made things way more fun overall.” 

For the next season, the team has things they can work on to overall improve their performance and chances of winning according to Foy.

“We could definitely improve on how we play in the regional playoffs because we made a lot of easy fixable errors that cost us the game early. Also, we played the ball in the air too much which doesn’t work very well against the faster and bigger teams so next year I think we should be calmer for the regional playoffs,” Foy said.

Stencel believes that next year the boys can repeat a good season and possibly do better than this year’s team.

“Our team this year was pretty young with only six seniors,” Stencel said. “Next year, I’d expect the team to do equally well or better.”