TEAM: Boys Soccer
RECORD: 5-6 (as of Oct. 6)
COACHES: Varsity Coach: Brian Claus; JV Head Coach: William Caseley; JV Asst Coach: Jose Andrande
CONFERENCE/DIVISION: We are playing in the South Shore League in Division 4
SIZE OF PROGRAM: 34 players including seven 8th grade players who are playing on the JV squad.
KEY PLAYERS: We have a solid squad. Really the best I have seen in the program since my first season back in 2013 when I started at the JV program. We have some really good players all around that really work hard and have really lifted the program. I admire the attitudes and work ethic this group has shown. It’s a great group.
#5 Joseph (ZouZou) Hajjar (Junior Captain and Defensive Midfielder)
#18 Chris Ferreira (Junior Midfielder/Striker)
#7 Richard Galvao (Sophomore Center Midfielder)
#20 Carlos Oliveira (Sophomore Striker)
#10 Iury Cassemiro (Sophomore Midfielder)
#9 Trevor Grafton (Junior Midfielder)
#12 Liam Murtagh (Sophomore Midfielder/Striker)
WHICH GAMES ON THE CALENDAR DO YOU HAVE CIRCLED: I think the big game for the lads is always Rockland. The boys often play with some of their guys in the offseason and being the next town over, you always like to get one over on your neighbors. But we look at the schedule week by week and game by game and plan accordingly for each opponent. We have West Bridgewater this season who we have not played before. It was a tough game the first time around but hopefully, when we host them on the 25th, we are able to be better prepared and get a better result. But there are some games we know are tougher than others. Norwell and Cohasset are always tough games. They have a great program and have been very successful in the past. And I think the boys see that and push themselves to get to that level and to have that kind of success. But in general, we try not to get ahead of ourselves and focus on the next day in training and the next match that comes our way. Each team is different so it’s about being prepared and having the best approach for each game.
WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS THIS SEASON: I feel the biggest key to success if consistency. This starts in training for us and carries over to games. We put the effort in during our training sessions and are starting to see the results of that effort and work ethic. The other big key for us has been mental toughness. We started the season less ideally than we had hoped. We felt we didn’t get the results we should have gotten but have since found our rhythm a bit more. They say winning is contagious, but losing can be as well and starting the season off 1-3 I think there was a little worry that we could find ourselves with the wrong momentum. But we’ve pulled back to be 3-1 in the last four games. As we sit right now, (Oct 1) we are 4-4 and playing Mashpee today. It has shown that the boys are mentally very tough and have taken losses as a learning opportunity to do better the next time. Not just match to match, but in the game as well. Instead of heads dropping and losing confidence after being scored on, the boys are looking to even the score and go ahead. And again, this comes from what we work on in training and keeping the environment filled with positivity and hard work. It has been a real pleasure this season working with this group of lads.