On Thursday, Oct. 17, the DHS boys soccer team had a devastating loss of 3-2 to Saginaw Heritage, ending their run in districts which had started on Oct. 14. The DHS boys made it through the first round, beating Bay City Central 3-0. Heritage beat Midland High in their first round 1-0. During the regular season, DHS tied Heritage 1-1. In that game, Heritage came back from losing to DHS 1-0 and scored in the final seconds. For some seniors who would not participate in the travel club soccer in spring season, Thursday would be their last game. This loss came unexpectedly to the team, including DHS senior Trevor Hulbert.
“I couldn’t believe we lost,” Hulbert said. “When you’re winning, you can’t stop. We were up 2-0 at halftime, and then they scored three.”
He also adds that what he’ll miss most is just being with the team.
“I’ll really miss the chemistry,” Hulbert said. “We got really good together, and then it just ended.”
DHS boys soccer came into this game with the record of 12-4-6. The boys had a season filled with both losses and wins, but this loss was by far the hardest for senior Ethan Loftis.
“We didn’t go as far as we hoped to,” Loftis said. “Soccer’s over now, I’m not playing any more organized soccer for the rest of my life, so it’s pretty sad.”
Some of the boys have been playing together for over four years, including four years of school soccer and four of travel soccer at the Midland Fusion soccer club. Seniors like Mark Debney reflect on how devastating it was for the team to lose this game and to know that it’ll be the last one they spent together as a team for DHS.
“I’m disappointed,” Debney said. “I don’t think we deserved to lose that game. We played probably our best half of our entire soccer careers. It was just disappointing in the end.”
He also added that the team needs to be consistent.
“There were times we dropped off, and it came back to hurt us in the end,” Debney said.
He also adds that in the second half, they didn’t play their game how they could have. Debney, who has played DHS boys’ soccer for three years, also adds that it’s not just the team he’ll miss, but the game of soccer itself.
“I think what I’ll miss most is the competitive nature of the game,” Debney said. “I love playing soccer, and now that high school season is over it’s disappointing to not be able to play competitive anymore.”
On Oct. 17, the DHS boys soccer team ended their season with 12 wins, four ties and seven losses. Though a devastating loss for the team, players said they will take from it as a good lesson on how they learned teamwork and an appreciation for the games they have played throughout their soccer career.
