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Boys Soccer Season: Big Gains Despite Losses

By Jeff Schwartz

On paper it appears the Rutgers Prep. Varsity Boys Soccer Team had a disappointing season by any standard of measurement. Certainly we did not receive any positive tangible outcome or recognition for all of our hard work: we lost in several more goals than we scored, lost many more games than we won, and suffered relatively early losses in both the State and County Tournaments. In addition, we lost to several of the more skilled and talented teams by embarrassingly large margins, which, when combined with several unfortunate losses to teams that lacked our natural talent and intensity, allowed us to develop an unfortunate and untrue appearance of severe incompetence and inability.
However, in spite of all of that, I do not believe those statistics provide an accurate or complete picture of the Boys Soccer Team this year. I can personally say that, after having played on the Boys Varsity Soccer Team for the last four years, I have never seen the team demonstrate, at points, as much intensity, desire, and potential for greatness as we did this year. In spite of losing several starters to season ending injuries very early on, facing a severe lack of talent depth from the earliest moments in the season, and having a majority of the team originally play solely to physically train for a second sport, we managed to overcome our innate weaknesses to play some of the best soccer Rutgers Prep has ever seen. We ignored our differences and practiced and trained with heart and desire, routinely sprinting and running until we physically could not give any more. Our dedication and strenuous effort allowed us to compete throughout the season, even when the scoreboard told a different story.
This inner strength was epitomized by our games against Somerville High School and against MKA, two teams that were supposed to enjoy an easy victory over the Argonauts before the game even started. Ignoring the odds and exceeding expectations, the Argonauts managed to play what former Prep athletic director Dick O’Connell later described as “the best soccer Prep has ever played in the last several decades” against Somerville High, playing them to a one goal game for 65 minutes. Against Montclair, in the final game of the season, the number-seven seed Argonauts traveled to the number- two seed Montclair and lost 2-1, nearly overcoming biased refs, disrespectful fans, and very talented opponents. While both of these games were officially recorded as just two more losses for the Argonauts, they represent far more than that to those who either played in or witnessed the games. Those games proved to everyone, both on our team and others, that we were truly capable of achieving great things and competing with the best of teams, making all of our hard work and sacrifice worthwhile.