The boys soccer season came to an end with a hard 1-2 loss against a strong Southport team, but it did not come with much regret.

“I wanted to become a better leader and to have another winning record, and I feel I met my expectations and goals, but our record is around even. We had a great season as a team, though,” senior Sam Thompson said.

Southport scored a final goal with one minute left on the clock.

“We were not able to come out on top in the last minutes of the Sectional Championship; however. Southport was a great team, and we knew we would be in for a major battle,” Thompson said.

Sectionals led to another round of on-field battles.

“The team we drew for Round 1 was not the best team, and our second round was New Pal. We beat them once so we believed we could do it again. We believed that we would make it to the Sectional finals, and we did,” senior Quintin Cain said.

Sophomore Emmanuel Jackson, striker, explained why the team record does not define how he felt about the season overall.

“Compared to my last season, my mentality is better because I have had a larger impact on the team and also because I have spent a lot of hours practicing. I feel like I’ve had a lot of effect on this team and how we’ve performed because I always try to uplift people and encourage them to perform as best as possible,” Jackson said.

Jackson even got the attention of local media.

“My most memorable game this year was definitely Franklin because we had a lot of ups and downs during the game. I played one of my most impressive games ever. I scored my most impressive goal, and I was interviewed by Indystar and the Daily Journal,” Jackson said.
Along with the team chemistry improving, their competition also excelled a lot.

“Our competition has been a lot more difficult. We’ve had a lot of close games during this season, and every game we’ve played we have fought as hard as we can every time. Almost every game we have been down in score, we have fought as hard as possible to come back, and although sometimes we fail, I’m proud of how much we’ve fought during the games,” Cain said.

Players set big expectations for themselves and the team.

“This season I personally have not met my expectations yet and that’s something that I want to focus on extra now. As a team, I don’t feel we’ve met my expectations either because we don’t have a winning record. I know we can do better than how we’ve done,” Cain said.
Part of the experience involved enjoying the game the athletes love so much.

“The most fun and memorable game was probably New Pal because we came back after being down a bit and it was just a really impressive and fun game. I’m very proud of how we did that game and with the outcome of the game,” Cain said.

The mindset of the team overall boosted the season.

“I think that we came in with higher expectations because last season was really good and I believe it’s smart to try to keep us at a high level,” junior Ziegen Mahachanh said. “This season hasn’t met my expectations because we got unlucky and that affects our score but overall I feel we are a better team than last year,.”