The boys soccer team has yet again advanced to the sectionals, winning districts on Wednesday versus Timberland. This is the third year in a row that the team has won districts.

In the beginning, the season did not play out as well as expected. The first game against Timberland was played on October 1 and the ending score was a defeat 0-2. The next matchup between the two ended up closer with a 1-2 loss on October 22. The team went into their third matchup against Timberland with confidence.

“It was a tough first two games against Timberland, but the second game really proved that we had the ability to beat them and we played them the third time and give it all out effort and in the end, it was an easy win,” midfielder Cooper Hayes (’23) said.

This team never counted themselves out, even with two loses against Timberland. With such close games, they knew the third time could be their chance for a victory.

“We knew from last year that it is hard to beat a team three times in one season,” forward Quinton Garofalo (’21) said. “After losing the first two times, we knew we were going to have a very good chance at winning.”

With less than 15 seconds left, Timberland was given a corner kick, and they scored, making the goal differential only one. The team felt confident that they would maintain the lead and advance to the next round.

“We had the mindset going into the game and we had the momentum going,”midfielder Clayton Garofolo (’23) said. “We continued to tell ourselves Timberland was a beatable team.”

Timberland was not the only team they lost to during the regular season. They struggled against several. On October 13, the team suffered a humiliating loss. After this defeat, the team decided it was time to play.

“After the loss to Howell Central 1-7, we realized that we had the potential to be a contender for the title and we just weren’t playing together,” keeper Hunter Deeken (’21) said. “That was our wake up call.”

This is a young team with a lot of potential. Captains Mitch Terbrock, Cameran Stinson and Quinton Garofalo are all seniors, but the majority of the team is underclassmen.

“I went into the game thinking it could be the last game for the seniors, so I had to give it my all,” defender Dyllan Weicht (’22) said.

The coaches noticed this improvement in attitude and play and also went into the Timberland game with confidence. Coach Schroeder commended the team for their tremendous improvement recently and told the team they could win if we wanted it more than Timberland.

Tomorrow’s matchup versus St. Dominic is for the sectional championship and the team has overcome their slump and feels confident about the match.

“We have watched video of our last game against St. Dominic so we feel more confident because we know how they play,” keeper Caden Hof (’23) said.

“The seniors on this team are a bunch of serial winners and it is astonishing that we can experience our third sectional in a row, maybe even a first quarterfinal,” Quinton Garofalo said.