by Christopher Williams, Reporter

The Jim Thorpe boys soccer team wrapped up the most historic soccer season in school history on Thursday, October 28 after competing against Pen Argyl in the team’s first-ever district semifinal.

The Olympians made history not once, not twice, but three times this season as they overcame a 0-4 start to the season to end the regular season with a school best 13-5 record, advanced to the Schuylkill League finals for the first time in school history, and advanced to the district semifinals for the first time in school history.

“I wasn’t really sure how the season was going to go and where we would end up,” said junior forward, Ryder Wallace about his thoughts on the how the season would go after the team’s 0-4 start. “I knew that we were a good team, the best in the league, but if we weren’t getting results against some of the other bigger teams then who knows how it would end up.”

Determined to to turn their season around and show everyone just how good of a team they were, the boys evened out their record at 4-4 before falling short to Pottsville, making their record 4-5. From this point forward, the team went on an eleven game win streak, including their postseason wins.

“It felt great,” said Wallace, the junior playmaker, referring to winning eleven straight games. “The team’s mindset was to stay focused and carry the results on to the later parts of the season, and carry it on against some of the bigger teams we had to face.”

As the season went on, the teams the Olympians were faced with many must-win games and the boys’ confidence grew with every win.

“The game against Blue Mountain and the home game against Pottsville were the must-win games,” said senior midfielder, Alex Mierzejewski, about the must-win games as the regular season was drawing to a close. “By working as one unit and scoring goals, we were able to defeat them.”

The Olympians defeated Blue Mountain 2-1 away thanks to a late Alex Mierzejewski game-winner, and they also put up a dominant performance to defeat Pottsville 2-1 at home to secure a 8-2 record in the Schuylkill League. With this record in the league, the boys were tied with Blue Mountain for second place in Division 1 of the Schuylkill League. Only the top two teams of both divisions advanced to the league playoffs, and with that, the Olympians were set to face the Eagles for a third time this year in a tiebreaker game at Lehighton with a playoff birth on the line.

“We managed to win by just playing our game. By working as a team, passing, and building up an attack, we finally scored one goal to beat them,” stated Mierzejewski. With less than fifteen minutes remaining in one of the most important games of the year, senior centerback, Ian Montelius, headed away a goal off of a corner to seal Jim Thorpe’s spot in the Schuylkill League playoffs for the second time in school history.

With the 1-0 victory over the Eagles, Thorpe was set to fight against another familiar foe, Williams Valley, in the league semifinals.

“Going into Williams Valley I knew it was going to be tough. Myself and the team knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game and it would be close,” said Wallace, and a tough game it would be.

Jim Thorpe conceded an early goal in the first half off of a free kick, and  with under five minutes remaining, sophomore, Thor Huth, came in clutch with a sly tap in off of a rebound to put the boys one goal away from advancing. Not even two minutes later, fellow sophomore, Alex Putt, powered home a world class volley to give the Olympians the win and make history as they advanced to the finals to play Pottsville.

“Making the league finals for the first time in history was a great experience,” said junior difference-maker Ryder Wallace, finding positives although two unfortunate bounces gave Pottsville a 2-1 Schuylkill League title win. With this final appearance, however, Jim Thorpe solidified their spot as the third seed in the District 11 playoffs and were set to play the Pine Grove Cardinals at home.

“We treated it as any other important match. We did what we had to do and we won, even if it wasn’t our best game,” said Wallace speaking on their 1-0 district win over the Cardinals. This win marked the furthest that Jim Thorpe had ever advanced in the district playoffs in school history, and they would advance to play Pen Argyl in a semifinal matchup.

In their first ever district semifinal game, the Olympians fell short to Pen Argyl as a late game winning goal sealed a 3-2 win for the Green Knights, bringing Jim Thorpe’s season to a close.

Despite the loss, senior goalscorer in the game, Alex Mierzejewski stated that “It felt amazing. Unfortunately we lost, but what makes it great for us is that we made history. Only the soccer team of 2018 will be able to say that they got this far.”

The 2017 boys soccer season will be one to go down in Jim Thorpe sports history. The Olympians achieved the best regular season record of 13-5 in school history, the first league final appearance in school history, and the first district semifinal appearance in school history.

“I’m still shocked and very proud of everyone who played and made history happen this year,” said Mierzejewski. “No one was expecting us to come back or even be good this year. I love being the underdog and shocking people and the media.”

Simply stated by the junior, Ryder Wallace said, “I’m happy to say that we were the most successful boys soccer team ever in Jim Thorpe.”