William Yu also contributed to this article.
After a 1-0 win for the Malden Boys’ Soccer Varsity team against Gloucester High School, their season has officially ended. Ending the season with a 6-7-5 record, the team was unable to make the MIAA State Tournament after tying in a game against Lynn English, which cost them their opportunity to make States.
Coach Jeremiah Smith shared how: “It kind of hurts that we came up kind of short of our goal of qualifying for the state tournament,” but Smith positively reflected on “how much improvement we showed over the last couple of years.”
Smith also addressed the team’s inconsistent scoring throughout the season, stating, “We’ve been averaging less than two goals a game, and that has been a challenge in generating more scoring opportunities.” Smith added that the team “could’ve played a little bit more consistently.”
With the team having players from different backgrounds and cultures, soccer here is not played like “everywhere else in the world.” Smith shared that this makes it a challenge for him to get the players on the same page.
Although the team welcomed new players with different playing styles, they got along from the start, even during their first practice in August, Smith noted that the “team chemistry was awesome.”
Despite their inconsistency in various games, each player on the team was expected to play at their best. In some games where the team suffered tough losses, the team “played up to their potential,” praised Smith.
Though there were some devastating losses during the season, Senior Captain Yasser Belatreche reflected positively on their improvement from last season, where the team had “one game win and 12 losses.” Belatreche also noted how their 6-7-5 record for this season shows the team’s willingness to “improve, knowing that they didn’t do good last season.”
“I always tell my team that a loss doesn’t define us because if we’re gonna lose, we have to know that next practice has to be even better so the next game has to be even better,” Belatreche shared.
Motivation for the team was a key driver of their success this year. Belatreche shifted the focus to “How can we improve in the next game?”
During a period when the team lost “three games in a row,” a change was needed; Belatreche shared that after a team discussion took place, they had won “three games in a row, and we were on a streak.”
Moving forward with more than half the team being current seniors, they have set expectations for the Junior Varsity players that are moving up to the Varsity level, creating a new chapter for Malden High School’s Soccer.
“One lesson that I think will really tell the tale for next season is that we all can win games and improve, and Malden can be something great once we just put in the work in the off-season. We did that this year…so I think if they just do those workouts, go to the field, get those trainings in, I think they can be great,” Belatreche shared.
The Junior Varsity team ended its season with a 13-2-2 record, with the two losses against non-league opponents. Smith believes that the future is “bright for the [Boys’ Soccer] team.”
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