After their best season in years, the Cougars prepare for postseason play.
Durant soccer hosted the 10-1-1 Freedom Patriots on Tuesday night, falling by a score of 4-0 in their final game of the season.
The loss comes as their second in a row to end the year, coming up short in a 2-1 loss against another tough Wharton team last week, but their 8-4-1 record this season marked the team’s most successful campaign since a 16-8-2 finish in 2010-2011.
“We were a similar team last year,” head coach John Feely said. “We had good players but we were super young and mostly freshmen last year. Now they’re a little older, they understand their roles a little bit better, they understand the game a little bit better, they’re a little bigger so naturally it all gets a little bit better. They were making the same improvements last year but now we’re just seeing those improvements after 15 games instead of after five games, so you’re also seeing the results more but it was still there last year. These kids have been working hard together for a year and a half now and I hope it ends the way that I think it will, because I think that they can put together a couple of really good games in districts and hopefully win a district trophy.”
After starting the year 1-2, the loss to Wharton was their first since mid-November, breaking an eight-game undefeated streak that featured seven wins and one tie to Sumner.
Durant started strong, with their first scoring opportunity coming early in the contest on a shot from outside the 18-yard box that was sent just wide of the frame on a diving stop from Freedom’s goaltender.
Durant’s keeper stood tall early as well, with a full-extension save in the 13th minute and another on a redirection from the ensuing corner kick, but Freedom finally broke through in the 16th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Freedom added another goal in the 20th minute, converting on a successful cross into the box, before adding yet another in similar fashion in the 32nd minute to take a 3-0 lead into halftime. By the 60th minute, still trailing 3-0, the Cougars made full-scale changes to their lineup as several starters left the pitch in favor of their young backups, giving their reserves a final regular season opportunity for minutes while ensuring that the remainder of their starting lineup stayed healthy as they move to their district tournament beginning on Jan. 26.
“This is just kind of one of those games,” Feely said. “I mean, you want to win every game and these guys are super competitive but at this point you’re kind of trying to just kind of keep healthy and get ready for districts and I think we’re there. We’re not going to be the favorite in every game but I think that we’re playing very good soccer, we’ve got a really good team and that we can win any game we play.”
Their 1-1 record in district play left Durant third in the 7A District 7 standings behind 14-1-1 Lakewood Ranch and 11-5-1 Newsome, ahead of Riverview and Plant City.
While postseason play still remains on the horizon, the 2021-2022 campaign was a promising look ahead for Durant’s future after an already impressive season for the extremely young group. Eight of the Cougars’ starting 11 are underclassmen, playing in either their freshman or sophomore seasons.
“We’ve been doing what we really need to do, most of our games we’ve been playing really solid defensively,” Feely said. “We have a good defense and a good goalkeeper and we’ve been scoring goals but I think that the last piece of the puzzle is going to be finding each other more. We’re relying a little too much on the individual, we’re relying a little too much on going forward all the time and if you can just slow down and let the game develop more on its own, I think they’ll see that final piece come together.”
