by Nick Martin

It’s that time of year again; the air is colder, the weather is drearier, and, yes, the soccer State Tournament has come again. The Bellbrook boys’ soccer team has an impressive record of 12-3-1 and league record of 10-1-1, winning the SWBL record for the 22nd consecutive year. Despite losing most of their starters and major powerhouse Eric Lynch, who has become a starter for the Division 1 Wright State Raiders, the young team has managed to hold its ground. Previously the team made a nice run for the State Title but were knocked out by the Carrol Patriots after going into overtime with the result of 1-0. This also ended an undefeated season and shattered our small town’s hopes of a state title.

Have no fear: the team is confident they will be a major competitor in this year’s tournament, just like last year’s team of 12 seniors. Junior captain Payne Sigman relays this confidence, “I think the team, being very young, lacks experience , but I believe we will be able to work through that and still have a pretty good shot at making it all the way.”

Sophomore Brady Tincher shares his thoughts on what to expect in this years tournament, “I believe our defense is capable of shutting any team out. Our motto is survive and move on; focus on the upcoming game and outplay the opponent for 80 minutes. We have proven that we can rise to the occasion, execute our game plan, and move on with the confidence to compete with any team in the area. We have been focusing on this tournament all season and know that we have high expectations to fulfill for our community and student body. This motivation and the fact that we are all ready to compete gives us the confidence to continue to survive and move on.” The boys so far have shown supremacy over some of our area’s strongest competitors: the Chaminade-Julienne Eagles and the Archbishop Alter Knights.