2013 Varsity Soccer
The fall ’13 soccer season has come and gone, and what a season it turned out to be! It all started with our annual trip to Camp Mah-Kee-Nac in the Berkshires in late August for our pre-season training. It was a very successful camp with no serious injuries, and I hoped for the same in the upcoming season. Unfortunately it was not to be; within days of the start of term, we lost our senior co-captain, Raf Harvard ’14, with a broken toe, and two other seniors were unavailable for the first three games. With the early results not as good as they could have been, the boys pulled together and showed a commitment and focus that I haven’t seen in a while in a varsity team.
After losing to Columbia Prep, the Panthers went on an undefeated run of three wins and two ties, including a glorious victory against the League and eventual Playoff Champions Lycee Francais 3-2, thus securing a #3 seed in the playoffs against, yes, you guessed it, Columbia Prep.
The semi-final match was a hard-fought, well-played affair, with our opponents taking a 2-0 lead deep into the second half. With the “never say die” attitude that they have shown all season long, the boys pulled one back with two minutes to go and were putting Columbia under pressure when, unfortunately, the final whistle blew. The team had come a long way since the beginning of the season and showed their true colors in a gallant effort in the final game. With a core of young players returning, the future certainly looks bright for soccer at Browning.
As a footnote, the Panthers were awarded The Sportsmanship Team Award from the other League member schools, which could have been their motto this year....’Play hard but fair.’
