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12/03/2016 11:00 PMEven while sporting such a young lineup throughout the field, the Guilford boys’ soccer squad reached a postseason height that it hadn’t seen in five years, while taking on the best competition the SCC and state had to offer this season.
Head Coach Joe Maher’s Indians finished with a record of 7-5-4 for the regular season to grab the final spot in the SCC Tournament. After knocking off top-seeded Hand in penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, Guilford lost a 1-0 contest to Fairfield Prep in the semis. Then as the No. 14 seed in the Class L State Tournament, the Indians defeated Bristol Central, beat Berlin on penalty kicks, and dispatched RHAM to reach the program’s first state semifinal game since 2011, where Guilford lost to eventual champion Hand.
Coach Maher said he was pleased with his team for always giving premier opponents a great game on a regular basis en route to going 11-7-4 overall this year.
“Hand won Class L, but we tied them and beat them on PKs, and we were 1-1-1 against them entering the state semis. It was the same with Fairfield Prep, who is a major power in Class LL. I thought the kids could play with any team and they proved it by always giving them a game,” said Maher. “Our goals were to win our division, make SCCs and states, and make a run in both of those tournaments. I thought we had a great shot to win the SCC Oronoque and we lost out on it by half a game. But we took out the top seed in SCCs, so we accomplished our goals pretty well.”
The Indians featured a trifecta of seniors as their captains this season. Forward Sean Miller was a four-year varsity player for Guilford, while midfielder Rowan Page completed in his second season as a starter and defender Ben Cousins was a first-year starter. All three athletes helped cultivate a new crop of underclass contributors for the Indians.
“Ben was a center back for us and was a rock for us back there. He had three other underclassmen starters back there with him in [juniors Ethan Skinner, Tim Weil, and Justin O’Leary]. Ben was the only one who had experience, so he solidified us in the back and always tried to rally the troops,” said Coach Maher. “Rowan had three sophomores in the midfield with him in Eric LePeak, Braden Stephens, and Liam O’Brien, so he brought experience there, too. Sean Miller was up front with [senior Dan Ciocca] and helped us average more than two goals a game.”
Guilford had one home game in the Class L State Tournament and earned a 3-1 win versus Bristol Central in the first round. It was a key victory for the Indians as it helped several underclassmen erase those big-game jitters and settle in to what became a pulse-pounding run to the Final Four. Guilford went on to beat both Berlin and RHAM by 1-0 finals to advance to its semifinal matchup with Hand. The Indians won the Berlin game by prevailing 5-4 in penalty kicks.
“The first game was the toughest because we had seven kids on the field that were playing in their first states game, which is a tall task to ask, especially of sophomores. We went onto to play [No. 3 seed Berlin] that had just as good a chance to win states with Hand. We went into a defensive format and, the deeper the game went, our confidence grew and we got into a PK situation where talent doesn’t necessarily matter,” said Maher. “We moved onto RHAM and really started believing we could win the whole thing after beating a good RHAM team out of the [Central Connecticut Conference]. We went into the Hand game confident, but we just ran into a buzz saw.”
Page played his way to spots on the All-SCC First Team, as well as the All-State Team for Guilford this season. Cousins made the All-SCC Second Team, while Page, Cousins, and Skinner were all All-Oronoque Division selections. In terms of team honors, Page was Guilford’s Most Valuable Player and senior midfielder Alex Gannon won the Sportsmanship Award.
With several veteran players slated to return next season, Coach Maher and the Indians are optimistic that Guilford can once again be part of a chase to the state championship in 2017.
“We have seven to 11 kids returning that played in big situations this year. Six of them are sophomores,” said Maher. “With those kids, along with some juniors that have played well, we should be solid and a force to be reckoned with.”
From the Sidelines
Rounding out Guilford’s senior class this year were Orlando Diaz, Mateo Peralta, Brendan Thompson, and Tommy Yanbul.
In 22 games this season, the Indians scored 42 goals and allowed 25, including penalty kicks.
The Indians finished with a record of 5-2-1 in the SCC Oronoque Division this year.