6th/7th Grade Soccer Post-Mortem

The 6th/7th grade soccer team, Championship Game runner-ups

All but three kids in the picture above had ever won a single CYO soccer game coming into this year. In the big picture, what a great season. They made it to the championship game and fell just a bit short.

Why did they fall short?

Simple. They didn't score.

Not that they were a juggernaut when it came to putting balls in the net, but at least they did so on a more frequent basis during the regular season.

They were shutout twice in the regular season, once by SVDP, a 5-0 drubbing, and then a 2-0 scrimmage loss to St. Charles.

In the playoffs, they combined to score one goal, on what most would say on a goal that the opposing goalie completely butchered.

However, in that game, the boys controlled the attack zone and had numerous scoring opportunities.

The same cannot be said of the championship where they had minimal chances and when they did have the shot, they missed.

From top to bottom, not one unit played well.

The forwards up front didn't score.

The mid-fielders could not keep the ball in front of them or move it up to the forwards when they had the chance.

And the defense had breakdowns that are inexcusable.

Goal #1 should've never been a goal. One player on the other team was able to fight off two or three defenders into the corner. On the cross to the middle, the goalie should've taken charge and just caught that ball. And then lastly, the defender there shouldn't have used his hand to knock it into the net.

Goal #2 was just a breakdown on many levels. The ball went by the midfielders and defenders way too easily and set up a 2-0 against the goalie, and the score became 2-0.

Goal #3 should've never happened. On a goal kick, instead of sending the ball forward or cradling it, the St. Mary's player ducked like he was afraid of the ball. The other team took advantage and basically sealed the game.


Let's get to some positives of the season.

All the St. Mary's kids dramatically improved.

It helps when they don't have to be counted on to score goals and do too much.

Ryan, Jason and Garrick all played their best seasons on defense and mid-field. The Twins became legitimate threats to score goals, and Raymond notched his second goal of his career.

Alan tied Eloy for the most goals in a season and will likely have the record for most soccer goals in a career by the time he graduates in two years. And his supporting cast from DMA, Jaime, Jeffrey and Julian all had real solid rookie seasons.

Andre, who joined the team this year, scored a goal late in the season and proved that he could be a scorer, while Dante anchored the defense like he did last year.

Nick threw his weight around like normal and Oscar developed into a pretty steady goalie.

All in all, a very successful season where we saw the development of everybody on the roster.


However, this one is going to sting, because there is no guarantee that the team will get back to this spot next year.


With a championship berth, it means going up a division. And in soccer, going up a division is night and day. The teams they played in the playoffs will most likely be the easy part of their schedule.

Also, where do these players go?

With five players from the 7th/8th grade joining this team next season, will this be a team of close to 20 players, or will the 6th graders have enough players to form their own team?

Lots of questions in the off-season for soccer, because this team may have played their final game together.