For the second consecutive season in a row, the boys’ soccer team has clinched the Liberty division in the BCSL standings, with a 11-3-2 record. The team is the second seed and is set to play Collingswood on Thursday in the first round of the playoffs. 

According to senior captain Aidan Quinn-Wright, the team will make a strong push and defy expectations.

“We’ve surprised a lot of people, came out strong and we’re looking to finish it strong too,” Quinn-Wright said. “We’ve definitely exceeded a lot of people’s expectations, and we’ll prove more people wrong as the season goes on.” 

The team came out very dominant, winning their first five games, including a 6-0 win against Holy Cross. They continued to play hard throughout the season and fought their way to a 11-3-2 record.

According to sophomore goalie Chase Parsons, the boys have worked well together, and the success of this season has been a collaborative effort by the entire team.

For example, in their second game against Haddonfield, the Pirates found themselves trailing by two points at halftime. However, with a great effort from all players, the boys were able to finish strong and close out the game with a 3-2 victory.

Although the team is thrilled with their performance so far, they are looking forward to maintaining this success as they approach the end of the season. Head coach Matthew Digney is proud of his team and their work up to now and is prioritizing their ability to perform well to finish off the season.

“We’re very, very pleased, but we’re just trying to play one game at a time, and make sure we’re staying as healthy as possible, and stay as focused as much as we can,” Digney said. “Just take it one game at a time.”

The team is led by senior captains, Aidan Quinn-Wright, Will Frasso, and Josh Periera. In addition to the team captains, the team will be left next season without Dean Karch and Christian Palmer, who have been varsity players since they were underclassmen.

Luckily the team has a strong group of underclassmen who will come back next year to carry on the team after this year’s seniors graduate.

 “We have a couple younger guys coming in,” Quinn-Wright said. “Some of them stepped up this year, and did a very nice job. It’s definitely something to get used to since last year we had a bunch of older guys, so we got a bunch of new guys stepping into new positions.They’ll be leaders next year, and I have a lot of faith in them.”

Digney and the players alike are anticipating the postseason, as they have confidence in their ability to compete and execute well in the playoffs. Digney made it clear that he is focused on having everyone healthy and prepared come postseason, despite the few injuries the team already has.

“Yeah we have a few injuries, so we’re just trying to get some guys healthy,” Digney said. “Whenever you play in the fall you have rain and weather, so we are just trying to adapt the best we can. The season is a long season, so we want to make sure when we get towards playoff time we are 100% healthy and fresh and ready to go. We certainly have in the back of our minds what we are capable of.”