It’s been a fun run and it’s still not done.
The Alma High School soccer team has put together a historical season so far this fall and on Wednesday evening the Panthers are hoping to add a little more history to it.
As it stands eighth-ranked Alma (20-4) takes on second-ranked Hudsonville Unity Christian (19-2-1) in a Division 3 semifinal from Cedar Springs High School at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The winner advances to Saturday’s D3 state final in Grand Ledge.
To date the Panthers have already had a banner season as they claimed the conference title a couple weeks back before recently reeling off the best postseason run in program history.
For long-time head coach Nick O’Neill it’s been a dream season as he’s coached the core group of players in this year’s team since they were youngsters.
“To have the best season ever with a group I have been (coaching) since they were babies is really exciting,” said O’Neill, who’s in his 20th year at Alma. “We’re all loving every minute of it. When these guys were in middle school we started talking about what this team would look like when they all got into high school, we were excited about it back then. We knew this could be a special year and it has been. Everyone on the team continued to work over those years and now that hard work is paying off.”
Heading into the semifinal round the Panthers have won a program-best 17-straight games all while posting new program standards in single-season goals (109), assists (78) and points (187). Senior Leo Richter has also rewritten the record books this fall as he ranks first all-time in career-goals (91) and points (128). Goalie Noah Vega has also set new schools records in career shutouts (23.5) and single-season shutouts (13).
While all the numbers speak to Alma’s current success, in truth the players aren’t too concerned about the numbers. Rather, they just want to keep playing and keep winning.
“It’s been fun and I love being a part of this team,” said Richter, who has 31 goals on the season, one behind team-leader Brayden Truman. “After losing in the regional finals last year we really wanted to win it this year. Now that we’ve done that our goal is to go as far as we can.”
Senior defenseman Collin Helinski added, “It’s been great, this is what we’ve been waiting for all throughout high school. It’s nice to see all of our work come together.”
As a collective the Panthers are a tight-knit group of friends too.
“I think we have an advantage over most teams because of all the time we spent together off the pitch,” said senior midfielder Aidan O’Neill.
As one of four teams left in the Division 3 playoff field the Panthers have already made their mark in 2023, yet if they can win another game or two it would only further their already growing legend.
Source: https://www.themorningsun.com/2023/10/31/alma-soccer-rollng-into-d3-semifinal-round-wednesday/
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