With a 4-2 victory over West Potomac on senior night, the Hayfield boys' soccer team ended its roller coaster of a regular season on Friday, May 14.
Close to half of the Hawks' games this season were decided in the final minutes or extra time, and the Hayfield boys often found themselves clawing from behind to get wins.
It also didn't help that the team had to adjust to a new district, leaving behind the Patriot District for the National District. According to senior defender Anthony Souphida, the two districts have completely different styles of play.
“The switch from the Patriot to the National has been a lot more aggressive," he said. "The play by play is not quite as organized, but the district has been difficult this year.”
The Hawks finished the regular season at 8-5-2, but the team knows that opportunities were lost due to their inability to finish games and scoring chances.
“[We need to work on] playing a full 80 minute game or if we go into overtime we need to play a full 90 minute game," Souphida said. "That has been a problem of this team, this season.”
Although the regular season has ended, the Hawks are working to make sure their postseason is more solid.
Part of the turnaround starts with communication. Junior goalkeeper Fernando Seas said the team needs to come together as a group for the playoffs.
“We need to work as a unit," he said. "We have to talk more, and we need to stay positive with each other.”
The players and coaches have the same umbrella of thought. If a full game can be played on both sides of the ball, the team has a chance to make a splash during the district tournament and upcoming regional tournament.
“I think that if this team decides to show up and play from the opening whistle to the last whistle we may even shock ourselves as to how far we can really go," head coach Daniel Drickley said.
The Hawks open the National District tournament off against Washington and Lee on May 19 at 5 p.m. at Wakefield High School