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12/12/2018 11:00 PMSean Cafferty showed his selflessness by taking on a new position for the Morgan boys’ soccer team in his sophomore season. Sean’s switch to the other end of the field paid big-time dividends for both himself and the Huskies this fall.
After previously playing striker or on the wing throughout his career, Sean was asked to move to a defensive center midfielder position due to a few injuries on the team. Sean took on the new assignment with no questions asked and didn’t skip a beat. The sophomore totaled three goals with six assists to earn All-Shoreline Conference Second Team honors for Morgan, which defended its Shoreline Conference title by winning the crown outright and then made its second straight appearance in the Class S State Tournament final.
“We had a couple good center backs that got injured, and my parents always told me that if a coach asks you to play a position, you say yes. Once I had the chance in that role, I said yes right away,” Sean says. “I had to step up and go a little bit out of my comfort zone, but I think I stepped up to the task.”
Sean says that his transition was a matter of focusing more on strength than speed. As a result of his prior experience as an offensive playmaker, Sean was often able to predict the next move of his opposing strikers.
“For attacking roles, you are trying to get around defenders, so you have to be fast, but you have to be more physical on defense,” Sean says. “Being an attacker teaches you a lot if you switch to defense, because you know their moves and take into consideration the speed of attackers. I knew I had to be more physical.”
Sean needed to adjust to playing a more physical style on the pitch. In the end, Sean enjoyed patrolling the midfield, especially since it allowed him to be a focal point of Morgan’s passing game.
“One of the tougher parts was knowing I had to get more physical and then, mentally, just knowing how to play the position and where to be,” says Sean. “I like getting the ball a lot more versus playing out wide or up top. You get to move the ball more and make more decisions. After the first few practices, I felt I was doing a lot with the ball. I created a bond with the guys both passing and communication wise.”
Head Coach Ross Demay says he was impressed with how Sean performed while serving as a happy medium between the Huskies’ offense and defense this season.
“Sean has solidified our midfield as our defensive center midfielder,” says Demay. “He earned the spot at the beginning of the year and never gave it up. He connects our defense and offense really well.”
Sean believes that Morgan’s methodical pace on offense played a big part in the team’s success in 2018. Sean feels glad that he helped the Huskies have another great campaign that featured 17 victories and a second consecutive Shoreline Conference championship.
“This year, we had a lot of the same guys that were good in the same positions. Our strikers were phenomenal,” Sean says. “We slowed down the pace with moving the ball, but it worked, and helped us with keeping ball possession.”