The boy’s soccer team played their senior night match against Bloomington Jefferson at Park’s stadium. It solidified their conference dominance with another win on Oct. 1. This win brings their overall record to 8-4.
Senior Johnny Ryan said the team did a good job closing out the game and sustaining their lead.
“We went up two early, and they got a red card, but they got close,” Ryan said. “We did a good job putting them away.”
Senior Elijah Proost said it was great to see the team perform like this, even without the typical starters, and he thought it was nice to see the players who don’t normally get to play in the game.
“It went really well. We were able to play all of our players that haven’t played as much, and we still were able to get the result that was good,” Proost said.
Head coach Anson Opara said he’s excited for sections and is ready to play the top team in the state. He said playing against Washburn will be a hard game for the team.
“I am looking forward to the playoffs. It should be challenging,” Opara said. “Saturday, we’re playing the number one team in the state.”
Ryan said this is the best performing team he’s had in highschool. He said he’s expecting them to make a big run in the playoffs.
“It’s a great year. It’s the best season we have had since I’ve been here,” Ryan said. “It’ll be good to see how far we can go. I think we can make it pretty deep.”
Opara said his favorite thing about the senior class is their team chemistry. He said the team is able to have fun with each other and joke around while also working cohesively when playing on the pitch.
“Probably just the humor that they have, the funny stories, the stuff that happens at practices, stuff that you guys probably don’t see, on the field at the games, just the camaraderie,” Opara said.
Proost said the thing he’s gonna miss most about soccer is being able to go out and perform with all of his teammates.
“Being able to play with my friends and just having all my friends on the team was nice, and just being able to play for the team and my city,” Proost said.
According to Opara, the match against Washburn on Saturday will be a good test of how the boy’s team will measure up against them in sections. He said the team needs to focus, and the game can go either way.
“They’re probably going to be number one in our section, so it’ll be good to get a look at them before we play them during the playoff time,” Opara said. ”There’s a lot of parity, so anybody can win, just have to play our game.”
Park boys soccer’s next and final regular season game is at 1 p.m. Oct. 5 at Park’s stadium.
