Falcon Boys Soccer Rose To The Occasion In Shortened Season

One goal for the Falcons boys varsity soccer team was to make this shortened season as memorable as possible and they certainly have, finishing with a undefeated 5-0 record.

With 10 seniors leaving the team, head coach Ryan Parisi said that while winning was important, that wasn’t the only focus during such a strange season.

“The emphasis was still trying to maintain the standard and the culture within the program,” he explained. “But knowing that it’s not a full-on regular season with a postseason, the kids and coaches just needed to kind of enjoy the process and enjoy the training.”

Parisi said that for the seniors, winning those five games was important, but they knew there was nothing more for them once those games were finished.

For senior wing Zach Plummer, being able to play those last few games was a great feeling. “When [the county] first came out and said there would only be practices, that realization that there would be no more games was kind of tough to deal with,” Plummer stated. “Once we found out we were going to play a handful of games, I was very excited.”

Senior Jack Muldoon was relieved to know that his final game as a Falcon wasn’t going to be the tough loss that ended their junior year. “It was all about getting one last run in,” he said. “Putting on that jersey one last time was really the closure any of us needed. But getting to do it for eight weeks and five games was more than I could have ever asked for.”

For some players, it didn’t matter that only five games were on the schedule. Center back and senior Daniel Key said that the team’s mindset coming into this season was that of asserting their domination no matter what.

“It was safe to say that we held that mindset throughout the five games we played, and the possibilities for us if we had an actual season are endless,” Key declared. “As much as we loved winning all five games, I think we appreciated those wins even more knowing that it would be some of the last games we ever played for our school.”

But this season wasn’t just about making sure the seniors got to ride off to college with a perfect record to look back on. It was also making sure the team could keep its winning ways going after losing so many seniors. And Plummer, Muldoon and fellow senior Jay Pierce think that the team has been left in great hands.

“We have a really good core group of juniors who will be going into their second year of varsity,” Plummer said. “I have all the faith in the world that they will be able to keep the ship moving. I don’t think the skill level will go down.”

Pierce added, “They’re a tight-knit group of guys. I don’t think there will be any problems chemistry wise. All of them are friends and they’ve got all the talent in the world.”

Muldoon agreed, emphasizing that the team mentality has and will continue to take the Falcons far.

“We call ourselves a band of brothers,” Muldoon said. “And it’s nice to get out there, play with your brothers and have fun.”