The boys varsity soccer regular season has come to an end. The Wildcats finished with a record of 3-6-3 beating only Blake, Wheaton and Richard Montgomery. With many drawbacks, WJ had trouble finding their rhythm this year.
Changing head coaches was something that the team really had to adapt to this year. Every coach has a different way of approaching the game.
“Switching to a new coach brought many changes, including a change in tactics, practice strategies, formation and more. Also, developing respect for a new coach takes time. But I’m very confident we will start to find our feet going into playoffs,” junior Ian Alves said.
Having injured players has also been an obstacle to the team, for striker Sean Blakeslee his senior season isn’t what he imagined it would be due to an ACL tear in the summer while playing for his club team. Blakeslee has still made the most out of this season.
“I still come out to every game to show support to my teammates and help out. I was also able to be involved in senior night by kicking off to Nic (Avillo), so I have technically played in every game for varsity every year,” Blakeslee said.
Senior night was on Oct. 7 against Walt Whitman. The game started off very promising with an early header in the game from senior Drew Detlor. Unfortunately, Whitman took advantage of a free kick making it 1-1 and neither team could score a game-winner in overtime.
One of the hardest losses for the Wildcats was to BCC (9-1-2). Earlier this month, the team struggled to keep up with the Barons’ pace resulting in the game ending 4-1. In the last couple of minutes, junior Dani Alonso scored but there was not enough time for the team to take control of the game.
Although the season has been a bumpy road there is still time to improve and the team isn’t giving up just yet.
“I think playing for a cause could boost our motivation like school pride or last year’s playoff loss. If we work together every step of the way I believe we could go very far,” junior Sunjay Bista said.
Playoffs begin on Oct. 26 against Richard Montgomery. If the Wildcats can beat them again and work on the necessities, they could put up a good fight in the playoffs.
