EAST RIVER โ The 2024 Graham boys soccer team is defying expectations.
The G-Men were written off by many in the preseason after the graduation of their talented upperclassmen a year ago, but they have compiled a 17-1-1 record this spring and once again qualified for the state tournament with a 1-0 win over Gate City in Tuesday's semifinals.
The G-Men will face the Marion Scarlet Hurricanes in the Region 2D Championship tonight at the East River Soccer Complex.
The Graham girls team (18-0), which also qualified for the state tournament, will face Central Wise in the other half of today's regional doubleheader. The G-Girls earned their berth by defeating Gate City, 2-1, in the semifinals.
Following the G-Men's semifinal win Tuesday night, senior Aiden Cruz was candid about his team's struggles.
“When the season started, I really thought we were going to be a much worse team than we were last year,” he said, “because we lost the foundation of our team. … We basically lost what we thought was our leadership and stuff like that.”
“But this year we surprised everyone by doing well. It's been great! We're on track and I'm really proud of this team.”
“These kids, all of our freshmen, have been playing road football together for years, and we have a lot of underclassmen in the starting lineup. We have probably three upperclassmen in the starting lineup,” Crews said.
“All the underclassmen have been playing since they were little, so the chemistry was good… and it was a beautiful game.”
If the team lost Tuesday's game, they were eliminated from the playoffs, and Cruz knew how the team had to stop those thoughts during their pregame routine.
“Mentally, you just have to sit quietly and play your music,” he said. “You can't go around talking to everybody, but once you do that and start stretching with your team, it creates a sense of togetherness.”
“You have to have the same mindset, otherwise it won't work.”
“Tonight we came out and started a little slow at the beginning, but by the end of the game we came together and I thought we played really Graham-like.”
“It was a hard-fought game today,” Graham head coach George Aiello said.
After a scoreless first half, the G-Men scored on a penalty kick by freshman Lucas Nash with 30 minutes, 43 seconds left to take a 1-0 victory over the Blue Devils. The penalty came when Blake Graham was overpowered by a Gate City defenseman in the box in front of the goal.
“Coach Aiello prepared me, I've been practicing the last two weeks, and I was ready to step up and help the team,” Nash said.
By the end of the game, the G-Men outshot the Blue Devils, 23 to 7. Gate City's keeper made 13 saves and Graham's goalie made 7. The visitors had a 10-6 edge in corner kicks.
“We knew we had the ball in their defensive third (of the field) most of the game, we just weren't connecting well,” Cruz said.
“Then, by the time we got the penalty kick, it just felt like the energy changed. We just kept going attack after attack. And then after the ball went down (on the field), we came forward, everybody pushed forward and it just felt like we were more united and playing together.”
“Going to the state tournament is a big accomplishment, and we went in with one loss. … I feel like this team accomplished something great, and it's really an honor to be able to go to the state tournament.”
“I feel like I can play better at the (regional) championships and state tournament.”
“It was a tough game. It's been close before,” Nash said. “We've got the experience and I think we were prepared to pull off a win at the end.”
Nash said his defensive teammates “did a really good job stopping the counter attacks. They've made big strides in that regard. And our goalkeeper, Tristan Brown, had another great game.”
“You look at MaxPreps (sports website), you know they're a good team. They've played some tough games, and so have we,” Nash said of Gate City.
“Their defense was pretty good, and their goalkeeper as well. We know we're good at attacking, but we just didn't finish the ball well today. We had chances and I think they'll start to unravel in the second half.”
Nash said Graham's coaching staff “tells us every week what to expect and how to handle the pressure and everything else.”
“I've been playing soccer my whole life, so I was really excited to finally get my chance. I've been watching them play for years and I've always looked up to the guys on this team, so it's really awesome to be able to contribute to the team,” the freshman said.
“The team has really grown together. At the beginning of the year, obviously, it was a new team, new players and we were a little rough, but towards the end of the year, we really became like a family.”
“I'm proud of our guys. They played hard. … They've been practicing extremely hard all year. We started early in October, November,” Aiello said.
“It's great for them to be able to go to a regional championship. That's one of the goals they've set for themselves.”
To illustrate the point, he pointed to a board in the G-Men's locker room that features numerous handwritten phrases written by players.
“Those aren't my goals,” the coach said, noting, “There's a lot of stuff written there … 'no more red cards,' 'do good in school,' 'stay healthy.'”
And, not surprisingly by now, the board includes a reference to the state championship.
The girls team has similar hopes, and those hopes were strengthened by a loss just before the state tournament last spring.
“It doesn't feel real, to be honest with you, because I think it was pretty much the same situation last year. Last year's season didn't end the way we wanted it to,” goalkeeper Natalie Du said. “I think everyone is just waiting for another chance to do it all over again.”
“We've learned that in the playoffs, it's 'win or lose,' so our girls have learned to be tough. We've won our last few games by a little bit of a margin, so I think this (semifinal) has prepared us well for the playoffs,” G-girls head coach Lee Brown said Tuesday night.
“Both the regional champion and the regional runner-up go on to the state tournament, so on Thursday we're just fighting for seeding,” he said, then added after a short pause, “I said we're just fighting for seeding, but we're fighting to win, but it's really nice to know we're guaranteed a spot.”