The Westminster Wildcats men’s soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss in their district semi-final game against Parkway West Longhorns on Tuesday, October 30, on WCA’s home field.   Parkway West was ranked as the second seed in the district and Westminster was ranked third. The score remained 0-0 until the last 21 seconds of the game when a foul was called on the Wildcats, just outside the penalty box.  The Longhorns were given a free kick and a player headed the ball into the goal for the win.

“We hit the post two times and had many other opportunities to score and many good looks on goal,” said Daniel Legters, Wildcat head coach.

The Wildcats held their own going up against a team that was supposed to beat them.  Although this was a disappointing loss, the team fought hard throughout the entire game.

“The other team (Parkway West) was seeded higher than we were.  We knew they were going to be strong and we did our best to neutralize their strengths,” said Legters.

Members of the team would agree with Legters’ words.  Most players did not expect to keep Parkway West from scoring for most of the game.  Players were not happy with the turnout of the game but were proud of the way they played.

“We were the underdogs and I thought we played great. We held them scoreless for basically the whole game which is impressive against such a strong team,” said Tristan Becker, junior.

The boys on the varsity soccer team worked hard during every game, this season, even when they knew they knew they were not as good skillfully as the team they were playing.  Their record for the year was an admirable 10-14 with a 1-4 record in overtime games.

“Even though we were not the best team, we were always in every game we played. We kept the score close in every game and never gave up,” said Becker.

The team played well together throughout the season and built each other up during upsetting losses.  All of the boys, from sophomores to seniors, got along well with one another and built lasting relationships amongst the team.

“My favorite part of the season was building relationships with seniors that I would not have talked to otherwise,” said Carl Simakoff, sophomore.

It was a great season because the team got along so well with each other and enjoyed helping each other improve, making them an easy and fun team to coach.

“It was a good group to coach.  Older players helped younger players.  They got along well and enjoyed playing with each other,” said Legters.

The boys played together, as if they had been doing it for a long time.  They grew close during the season and became good friends.  This made the season more enjoyable for team members, also making the end to the season harder.

“The team was like an awesome family. I would do almost anything to play another game with that group of guys.  After our last game, we said goodbye to all the seniors.  It was really sad because we’re going to miss them a lot next year,” said Simakoff.

Wildcat soccer players enjoyed a season full of fun and success as a team.  These boys went through emotional highs and lows with one another.  They grew in thier relationships with each other and this showed in how they played together, encouraging each other and working together.

“There were never any tensions on our team.  Overall, we had good team chemistry,” said Becker.

Although this fall season did not end in a victory, wildcat fans and players reminisced on the great season they had.  Players have already begun planning how to better prepare for next fall.

“No one really said much after the game because it was such a tough loss, but Matt Sheehan (junior) set up off season workout sessions for the team to improve for next year,” said Becker.

Westminster will miss their senior players who held the team together and encouraged the younger members.  But the team plans on improving during the off-season and coming back strong next fall.