The Wyverns finished this season with a 7-6-2 winning record after a hard fought season.
Powered by a strong offence and assisted by a powerful defence, the team ended their season with a strong 6-1 win against Trinity-Pawling School on Saturday, Nov. 10. Before the game, the Wyverns helped celebrate two seniors on the team, midfielder Aidan Shea and defender James Amenta, for their contributions to the team over the past few years.
This year the team had a very difficult and competitive schedule. “The season started off really well and we started undefeated, but as the season progressed we played against tougher opponents which challenged us a lot,” junior striker Nicholas Hamzavi said. “All of our games were close even if the score didn’t reflect on that, examples were Avon Old Farms, Canterbury, Westminster, Suffield, and Hopkins. These games were extremely close and we had to work extremely hard to either win or lose with dignity because we did everything we could to overcome the tightness,” Hamzavi said.
The team had one memorable nailbiter 1-0 win against Suffield-Academy, “The Suffield Academy game in the beginning of the season definitely was a big win for us because we haven’t beaten them in many years,” junior co-captain midfielder Jackson Wolff said.
Head Coach Hikmet Aslan was impressed by the way the young team came together over the course of the season. “We have great friendships on the team and amazing family relations and have had team dinners on Friday nights before Saturday games that help to bring the team together even more,” Coach Aslan said.
Wolff said that overall the team was very productive and everyone contributed in their own way. “We’ve had a couple of team meetings to just to try to bring the team together and consider our common goals for each other and ways for the team to reach those,” he said.
This season the junior class was a huge asset to the team. Junior defender Kyler Dzielak helped to hold down the back line as a defender and was able to stop lots of breakaways which was crucial for the rest of the team. Hamzavi used his touch to dribble around defenders, and goalies junior Tim Cotter and junior Nick Cannata made huge saves throughout the season during difficult situations.
The team also had some new Wyverns join the squad this season, “We’ve definitely had some contributions from the sophomore twins Hunter and Carter Meshanic and freshman Brio Aslan who have brought new energy and excitement to the team,” Wolff said.
Coach Aslan was pleased with his players this season. “I have been very impressed with a few players including junior Nick Traver who stepped up as a defender and both the Meshanics who just started soccer this year and have played in every game,” coach Aslan said.
The team was young this year with five freshman joining the team so they already have a talented group of players for next year who are comfortable playing on the field with each other. “I am excited and expecting that the players will continue to step up in the future while continuing to grow and get stronger,” coach Aslan said. “Next year we will have nine seniors and I can not wait to see what they can do,”.
The players are also pleased with their effort this season and feel that they have created a very good foundation for even stronger results next year. “The season went well and we made some improvements from last year and hope to keep improving for years to come,” Wolff said.
