Lake Braddock Secondary’s outstanding boys’ soccer season ended with a 2-1 loss to Deep Run (Central Region) in a State AAA semifinals game which took place last Friday evening, June 10, at Westfield High School.
In an intense contest that saw the Bruins get hit with a controversial red card, Lake Braddock’s hopes of reaching the following day’s state title game ended with the round of four setback. Deep Run, a member of the Colonial District, went on to lose in the finals to North Stafford, 1-0.
"I thought we played very good in the semifinals," said Lake Braddock head coach Jo Soos, whose team ended the season with a 16-5-1 record. "I think everyone is very disappointed [in the loss]."
Lake Braddock’s Matt Fraedrich scored the Bruins’ lone goal in the season-ending loss, his eighth score in 11 postseason games this spring. But Lake Braddock could not break through for more scores in the game. Four of the team’s shots on goal caromed off the goal post.
"It’s not like we didn’t have our chances," said Soos. "Unfortunate results, we played well, but for whatever reason the bounces didn’t go our way. I’m proud of the way we played."
<b>LAKE BRADDOCK’S POSTSEASON</b> was bittersweet as the Bruins, who won nine games by shutout this season, lost in the finals of the Patriot District tournament but went on to take the Northern Region title. At districts, Lake Braddock reached the championship match by defeating Lee and T.C. Williams. Then, in the district title game on May 20, the Bruins lost a 2-1 decision to West Springfield High in a game played on the Spartans’ home turf.
But Lake Braddock stormed back to put together a remarkable four-game stretch at the 16-team regionals where it won games over Madison and Oakton, both by 2-0 scores, to qualify for the semifinals. There, with a state-qualifying berth on the line, the Bruins won in dramatic fashion over Washington-Lee High, 3-2, in the game played June 1 at Robinson. In the region finals at Madison High School in Vienna two days later, the Bruins defeated Langley, 2-1 for the region crown.
At the eight-team state tournament, Lake Braddock won an opening round 2-0 decision at home over Indian River (Chesapeake) on June 7 to advance to the semifinals and the meeting against Deep Run.
Soos said the primary key to Lake Braddock’s success this season was its’ players dedication to putting the team first.
"There is very little [individual] ego on this team, if any at all," said Soos. "They were able to develop a pretty high level of respect for each other throughout the season."
Despite capturing the region title, Lake Braddock did not have any players named to the First Team All-Region squad. The team’s lone All-Region representatives were senior midfielder Christian Kosko (Second Team) and Fraedrich (Honorable Mention).