Boys’ soccer heads to Sections

Park boys’ confident in winning

Senior+Thomas+Salamzadeh+advances+down+the+field%2C+looking+to+pass+to+his+teammates.+Park+tied+0-0+in+overtime+against+Benilde-St.+Margarets+Sept.+24

Megan Hoenie

Senior Thomas Salamzadeh advances down the field, looking to pass to his teammates. Park tied 0-0 in overtime against Benilde-St. Margaret’s Sept. 24

Adin Zweigbaum

Boys’ varsity soccer is hopeful for successful Section games, in order to play at US Bank Stadium in state.

According to coach Pat Hartman, he feels the team’s mentality is very important to how they play, and will be essential to winning.

“The team’s done very well and a big part of that is the team’s spirit,” Hartman said. “The guys are really all in it together and working really hard, and it’s fun to see.”

In past years, the outcome of Sections has not been what the team desired, but good effort and concentration should be able to change that outcome, said junior Eli Seehof-Flory. 

“I think we’re all going to be really focused,” Seehof-Flory said. “Obviously the last few years in Section finals (it has) not been what we wanted.”

Senior Mohamed Mohamed said the boys have a huge advantage over other teams in both the short game and mid game.

“We are really good at short passes and have a really strong midfield, unlike any other team I’ve seen,” Mohamed said.

According to Hartman, the team practices a lot of ball management which makes it difficult for other teams to play against. 

“Our guys are really good at holding the ball,” Hartman said. “They play really well when we have the ball in possession. (We) move the ball quickly (and) do a lot of short quick passes. We practice that a lot and I think it makes it tough for other teams.”

Mohamed said an important part to the team’s success will be working on defending set plays, a point in the game where the time stops. 

“We need to work on defending more set pieces,” Mohamed said.” That’s how every team scores on us, we haven’t really had a team score on us without set pieces.”

Seehof-Flory mentioned it is important for the team to stay focused and do their best, in order for them to meet their potential.

“I think it’s important to stay grounded, and I think we’re still a really good team, but we have to work hard every single game and go game by game,” Seehof-Flory said.

Hartman is looking forward to seeing how the team will do, and is optimistic about their future.

“We should have home field advantage,” Hartman said. “We’ll see how the seeding meeting goes. Hopefully we can make it into the Section final again.”

In 2018 Park lost in the Section final against Wayzata 0-1.