Boys' Soccer Makes Deeper Playoff Bid

Record: 16-3-2 Coming off an incredible season in 2011 in which they had a 17-1regular-season record, boys’ varsity soccer entered this year with ayounger and less experienced squad. Yet, despite all the uncertainty,the team banded together to earn a record of 14-2-2 and another playoffberth. Although they fell short of winning the championship, this teamwas able to make an even deeper run than they did in the 2011 season. After losing over a dozen seniors that included prolific goal-scorerBrian Hart, the team members knew that they would have to adjust.“When you lose a player that scored 35 goals, strategy must change,”head coach Arthur J. Cosgrove said. “I told the team that we needed5-7 guys to score 5-8 goals each in order to compensate for his loss.” Following the loss of a key play the boys remained optimistic about their chances.“Going into the season, I was unsure of how our team would be because we graduateda couple stars,” senior co-captain Matt Ryan said. "But, with hard work and goodchemistry, we knew we could have a special season, and we did.” Exeter got off to a quick start in the season, winning their first five games beforetaking a home loss to Choate. The team then went on an eleven win streak, whichincluded four shutouts. Big Red’s pair of senior goalies, Curtis Arsenault and WillBarnett, led this defensive charge for PEA. “Goalies Curtis and Will were incredible all year,” senior Michael Girard said.“They both had really good presence in the box.” Cosgrove also mentioned seniorsRyan, Kyle Robinson and John Cross and upper Spencer Reaves as making up “afantastic back four.” Defense was not Big Red’s only strong point. Exeter also kept up a solid scoringattack, with upper Henry Stevens and senior co-captain Harry Choee leading the teamwith 8 and 7 goals, respectively. “This team had great depth at almost every positionand the team chemistry was unbelievable,” Cosgrove said. “We were also the mostbalanced team I have ever coached, meaning we were strong at every position.” Stevens agreed. “One of the strengths of our team was that we didn’t have anysuperstars, but the whole team was very deep,” he said. “We were all pretty skilledplayers, and we were able to rotate guys in off bench.” Both Girard and Ryan highlighted the team’s level of effort as a key to success.“We played well together,” Ryan said. “We weren’t necessarily the most talentedteam, but we took pride in knowing we’d work the hardest.” “No other team in the league wanted to win as much as we did this year,” Girardadded. “It showed through the effort we put in every game.” With a strong season under their belts, Exeter made the trip to Andover for theirE/a matchup. However, after tying Kimball Union Academy in a game where theydidn’t play up to their standards, Big Red had another disappointing performance,falling to their rivals 0-1. “Soccer is a funny game,” Cosgrove said. “We didn’t play our best at Andover,but it was still a very close game. The difference was simply that they converted onan opportunity to score, and we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities.” This loss also came at a tough point in the season: right on the brink of thepostseason. “We were somewhat unsure of ourselves after the Andover game and itdidn’t give us much momentum going in,” Ryan said. “Once we had a couple strongpractices, we knew going into the first playoff game that we could do somethingspecial. It was a new season going into the playoffs.” In the first round quarterfinal, PEA took on a Loomis Chaffee team that theyhad defeated 2-1 earlier in the year. This match went scoreless through regulationand overtime, however, and the teams were forced into penalty kicks. Exeter cameout on top, 4-2. Such an exciting win reenergized the team’s playoff run, just in timefor a difficult semifinal match against Worcester Academy. They didn’t fail to comethrough. Big Red defeated Worcester 2-1, highlighted by a spectacular bicycle goalfrom Robinson. “We had several great games this year, but the Worcester playoff game thatpropelled us into the playoffs will reside in my memory as one of the most excitingsoccer games I’ve witnessed,” Cosgrove said. “We were down by a goal with 12minutes to play when Kyle Robinson scored to tie the game. Then, minutes later, hescored one of the greatest goals I’ve seen when he bicycle-kicked a cross from thecorner of the box into the upper right corner of the net. 'Ridiculous' best describesthe goal.” Exeter would go on to lose in the Championship game against Berkshire, 0-2,but the team was still pleased with their run. “Winning the semifinal was definitelya high point of my Exeter career,” Ryan said. “It was a real bummer to lose in theChampionship, but next year’s team can take it one game further.” In making it to the Championship, Exeter advanced further than they had beenable to last season, where they fell to Andover in the semifinals. Stevens addressedsome of the factors that led to this success. “This year, since we were all prettyskilled, if one kid didn’t show up, it was okay,” he said. “We were a complete teamthis year. There was a good bond between us.” The future still appears rather hazy for the team. With fifteen seniors graduating,Big Red will be looking for new recruits to fill in many of the vacant spots. Combinedwith the talent they already possess, the team remains positive that everything willshape up well. “We have a few really solid players returning,” Girard said. “A lotof guys who didn’t get playing time this year will step up. We also have two verycapable captains, in Henry and Stewart [Scott ‘14].” Cosgrove offered a special parting word to two true Exeter veterans. “Just a noteof thanks to four-year players [and co-captains] Matt Ryan and Nick Weigel. Four-yearplayers don’t come around often. When they do, they usually care about the successof the team in ways that help make the team better. They were both terrific leaders.”