On Sunday, November 6th, the FHS Varsity Boys Soccer team claimed the 2022-2023 NBIAA AAA Provincial championship banner—boasting with it an undefeated season.
Samuel de Champlain came out to face the Varsity Boys on their own turf and compete in the finals for the provincial championship banner. Both teams had a well-deserved bright season to be proud of, working hard physically and emotionally for 2 months straight. But it was time to put all those practice and games to the test, and see who was truly the #1 varsity high school soccer team in New Brunswick.
“I felt that this has been one of the most devoted and closest teams I’ve been apart of. All of the guys were great to play with and I do and will continue to hangout with those guys outside of soccer. There were always arguments, but I felt that we were always able to solve them and continue working as a team and as friends.” - Matt Messenger.
The finals was a hard fought game on both team’s behalf, but FHS ultimately came out on top with a close 1-0 game, with the only goal being scored by Yousef Hamid. Assuring them an 18-0-0 undefeated season.
Although being undefeated all season was a first for the school, winning provincials was nothing new to the FHS Varsity Boys soccer team. The last 3 provincial banners had been taken home by the team, with less then 5 senior players soon to leave FHS the next year of soccer looks promising, and the boys hope too continue their provincial championship record.
“Since there were under 5 seniors on the team this year, I think that next years team will do just as good with a great group of next years seniors.” - Caleb Scholten.
Although the team had an undefeated record, they weren’t dominating the field all season. Various mistakes and needed practice caused some very close games and near losses at the start of season.
“It’s always a challenge to work together with a team you’ve never played with, but by the end of the season we were working together and truly a team.” - Max Hall.
Throughout the season the team worked hard with 3 practices a week on top of a game to make sure they were playing the best game they possibly could. The practices consisted of drill specifically focusing on possession, shooting, set pieces and technique training.
These practices were vital contributors to the team’s success and the team wouldn’t have had some of the blow games that they did without this hard work outside of game day, leading to wining games around 14-0 or with mercy rule.
This practice isn’t only winning games but preparing and producing very talented players after high school.
“After high school I plan on going to university and have a couple options depending on which school I choose. I will want to play soccer for them for sure.” - Matt Messenger.
“I feel sad that this is my last high school season, but I don’t think I could of asked for a better one. The team was great this year everyone got along great and meshed well on the field. As captain I felt responsible for making sure the team got along and worked well together and I thought the team excelled at this with our Provincial win and our undefeated record.” - Matt Messenger.
Overall, winning the 2022-2023 Provincial Championship Banner for the third time in a row is a great way to end the season for the Varsity Boys, who will be trying to keep that streak going and claim the banner yet again next season.
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