As the Wakefield High School men’s soccer season comes to a close, there is a feeling of disappointment in the air among the players due to their 1-15-2 overall record. Although they had high hopes for this season, the boys are trying to stay positive and are treating this season as a learning experience.

New Head Coach, Michael Cantrell, although disheartened for the team, has enjoyed this season and is excited for the future.

“This year was the first time I’ve worked with the varsity boys, so it was a new experience for sure,” Cantrell said. “The boys have been fun to work with, a lot of goofing, but a lot of hard work as well.”

Even after many losses, the Wakefield soccer players did not give up and continued to work hard at practices. Even more importantly, they stuck together and played together as a team.

“We worked really hard at the beginning of the season and despite the record, we have continued to work hard throughout, stay positive and work to improve both individually and as a team,” Cantrell said.

Even after a disappointing season, senior captain Charles Johnson is still proud of the persistence of the team and how well they played at each game.

“I think our greatest strengths were fighting throughout the season, even though our record doesn’t really show how good we could have played as a team, but I think our willingness to keep fighting throughout the season was our best strength overall,” Johnson said.

As it was his last season playing soccer for Wakefield, Johnson has some wise words for next year’s team.

“I would recommend that they have more wins, obviously, but that the team should overall put in a little more hard work in practice and also bond more as a team outside soccer and off the field,” Johnson said.

After four years of playing for Wakefield, senior captain Oliver Norton reflects on his experience with the team.

“I’ve enjoyed all of the friendships and bonds that I have made throughout the years and will definitely miss playing for Wakefield next year,” Norton said. “This year has not been our best, but we have continued to stay positive and play well.”

The so

ccer team’s only win of the season against Wake Forest has become a great memory for Norton, not just because of the score but because of how well they played.

“I will always remember the game against Wake Forest when we won 6-1,” Norton said. “After not winning any games, we didn’t have much confidence that we were going to win. But when we pulled out the win, it really lifted up our spirits, and on top of that, it was senior night.”

Junior Omar Abouseido has also learned some important lessons this season that he can continue to use for next year’s season.                                                                                                                                                   

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to never give up and keep pushing myself to do better each day,” Abouseido said. “As a team, we’ve learned to keep our heads up when we don’t do well so that we can try harder the next time.”

Even though this season was not their best, the players tried their hardest and bonded on and off the field. It’s a bittersweet time for the seniors, but the rest of the team, along with the coach, look forward to next year’s season. Overall, Coach Cantrell thought this was a great season to start off his time at Wakefield.

“Obviously the record is not where we want it to be and I thought getting off to a slow start hurt us a lot, but we have put in a lot of really great performances and unfortunately haven’t gotten to results that we wanted,” Cantrell said. “We created a lot of chances and we had a lot of opportunities to win many of the games that we lost, we just have to capitalize on those moments a little bit better and get the results that we need.”