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Varsity Boys Soccer Preview
The Boys Varsity Soccer team enters this season with high hopes and expectations as they attempt to defend their FAA regular season and tournament titles from last year. Although the team lost eight talented seniors from their title-winning 2017 season, a new crop of underclassmen and a group of veterans from last year will greatly help them in their quest to repeat as FAA champions.
Last fall, much like the girls team, the boys team got off to a miraculous start, beating talented schools and rivals alike. A strong defense led the Hilltoppers to eight straight wins at the beginning the year, as they allowed just four goals while scoring twenty four. Rattling off win after win, the Hilltoppers found themselves to be the talk of the school as they entered homecoming with an undefeated record. Sadly, a non-conference matchup against a talented Avon team spelled doom for the team’s undefeated run -- Hopkins lost 4-1. The loss to Avon, as well as a laundry list of injuries to key starters, put the Hilltoppers in a bit of a skid as they entered five straight non-FAA games, all on the road. Hopkins closed the year with just two wins in their final six games, but still secured the FAA regular season title. However, they started the playoffs with a bang -- an inspiring 7-1 win over Rye to advance to the FAA finals. In the final, Hopkins and Masters fought hard for over ninety minutes, but in overtime, captain Dylan Sloan ’18 whipped a ball into the back of the net to give Hopkins Boys Soccer their first ever FAA championship. The Hilltoppers finished the season at 12-4-1, their best record since 2007.
Avon and Brunswick were the Hilltoppers’ most challenging opponents last year and figure to be immense challenge again this year. Hopkins has not beaten Brunswick since 2010, and endured a tough 1-0 loss to the Bruins last year. And, although playing Avon every year, the Hilltoppers have failed to topple Avon since 2006, a painful run of losses.
However, despite the loss of eight seniors from last year’s team, captains Bruno Moscarini ’19 and Ethan Pritchard ’19 are ready to challenge teams that Hopkins has historically lost to. Seven returning starters and fifteen upperclassmen give the team a strong veteran presence, while eight underclassmen and three freshman will ignite the team and give it an energy boost, in either the starting lineup or the bench. As Pritchard said, “We’re more well rounded [than last year]. We lost some older, more physical players but we’re making up for it with skilled younger players who can have a legitimate impact in games as freshman or sophomores.” Although the team has the same mentality as last year, they have more experience and are more seasoned in a playoff environment, noted Moscarini, “We joined the FAA two years ago, so the first year was our first experience in a playoff game, and we lost to a team we had beat during the regular season. Last year, with a year of playoff experience under our belt, we were more confident and it paid off.” In addition to regular offseason improvement from returning players, the team has seem noticeable improvement from starting goalkeeper Brennan Gollaher ’19. Last season, Gollaher was pressed into backup duties and dealt with an ankle injury that kept him out for most of the year. He only played a few minutes last year, but his inspired play during the preseason has made his teammates hopeful for a repeat of last year’s defensive dominance.
Last year’s success set in place a winning culture, and this year, the Hilltoppers have a goal of reaching double digit wins for the second consecutive season. Soccer is one of Hopkins’ strongest programs, and I would highly recommend watching one of the teams fifteen regular season fixtures. If you’re unable to catch a game after school, you can see them play Kent at homecoming on October 20th
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Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.
