The boys’ soccer team, which last won the class LL State Championship in 2016, fell short of that title this year, battling numerous injuries and a tough schedule. The team was defeated by the Greenwich Cardinals in the semifinals by a score of 3-2, played at Naugatuck High School, the chosen neutral site. Greenwich went on to lose to Hall in the State Championship game, a team that the boys tied 2-2 in the regular season. 

   After losing in the quarterfinals last year to Pomperaug, the boys knew they needed a new approach to the tournament. Even with the dominating history of Farmington boys’ soccer, they needed to prepare the same way for each team, and not overlook any opponent. 

   “We took it one game at a time, acknowledged every opponent as worthy, and as a tough competitor. We understood our roles as players and knew if we all did our job, we would have the success we desired,” senior Grayson Herr said. 

   It is hard to judge the season a failure due to numerous obstacles the team had to overcome. They lost starting goalkeeper, sophomore Patrick Pietraszewski, to a broken jaw, and was replaced by first time goalkeeper, senior Tom Gibson, who returned to the team after a one year break. Starting center midfielder, junior Walter Scudder, broke his collarbone in an overtime victory over Glastonbury in the regular season. Juniors Logan Brennan, Finn Murphy, and David Coello battled injuries throughout the season as well. 

   The boys will say themselves that they overcame a lot of doubt and adversity this season.

   “The way we responded to failure. As an inexperienced team after losing 16 seniors, starting 4-3 with a new coach, I was most proud of our ability to overcome this rough start and not lose a game until the semifinals of the state tournament, beating nationally ranked Glastonbury in overtime, and how players stepped up after injuries,” Herr said. 

   The “new coach” is first year head coach Nicholas Boorman, a gym teacher at West Woods Upper Elementary School. After the retirement of long time head coach, Steve Waters, Boorman was hired to lead a new wave of Farmington soccer, especially after losing the 16 seniors. Boorman has been in the program for a few years now, coaching the freshman team three years ago, and coaching the junior varsity team the past two seasons. This made for something special for the senior players.

   “We have had coach Boorman coaching us since our freshman year, so we have gone through the entire program with him as our coach. He started our careers at the high school and coached us in the end.” senior TJ Erickson said.