Week #12 - From One Win to The State Tournament: A Dream Season

The team truly hit their stride in the month of September. The Badgers won FOUR GAMES IN A ROW, including an epic comeback against Grace Christian of Mechanicsville. Trefor referred to that game as “one of the best high school games I’ve ever seen” and wouldn’t stop singing the praises of Seamus, who had a goal that was a true Sportscenter Top Ten moment. The team was down 2-0 at half time and came back to win 4-2!

During that stretch, the Badgers also beat Boys Home of Virginia and Wakefield Country Day - twice. They closed out the regular season with two hard fought games against Stuart Hall, including an exciting 1-1 tie on Senior Day in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd of picnic attendees.

Two weeks ago, Tandem travelled to Quantico, and absolutely smashed a team that had beaten them 6-3 a season ago. This time around it was 4–1 TFS, and the team had the ball for 80% of the game. As the regular season wrapped up, it was clear that Tandem was heading to the VISAA State Tournament! The Badgers awaited their placement...Can you believe it?  Tandem earned a #10 ranking in the state! This afternoon, the squad travelled over the mountain to Staunton to take on #7 seed Grace Christian of Staunton.

The teams had two common opponents: both had beaten WCDS. Grace Christian had tied New Covenant 2-2, while the Badgers had lost to them 4-0. On the road, Tandem was a clear underdog, with nothing to lose.

Right off the opening kickoff, Owen smashed the ball into the deep corner, setting up Jack for an early chance. The field was small, about 70% of the size of our varsity field, and the wind was blustery. After GCS fired a shot well over the goal, Levie sent the ball deep to King, who had a perfect touch to move it over to Shaan. Like a work of art, Shaan used fancy footwork to elude his defender and got the ball wide to Van. Tandem was in business.

Henry was awesome defensively, poking the ball away from GCS, and passing it up the line to Oscar. After the ball went out of bounds, Jack threw it nearly forty feet, and right on the shoe of Shaan. It was one of several chances Tandem generated in the first twenty minutes.

Defensively, Luca met every GCS attacker with force. Van used his body to box out the opponent and win the ball, always taking the sharpest angle. Levie had an awesome save after a free kick, and Oscar drew a foul at midfield. Shaan took that free kick, and got the ball ahead to Mason at the 18. He fired a shot, narrowly saved by the goalie.

GCS had a few breakaways on their small field, and it looked like they might come away with a goal. Owen, as always, had other plans. The fastest man on the field was always lurking, and zeroed in on the GCS attack. Owen ran nearly 50 yards, and at full speed, made a beautiful tackle to eliminate a scoring chance. He was phenomenal all day - fast, intimidating, powerful and tactical.

Shaan got the ball ahead to Jack, who earned a corner. Tandem was threatening. Oscar got off a laser beam shot, Levi fired another from 30 feet out, and Quinten entered, adding a ton of speed. GCS managed to trickle one through, and took a 1-0 lead halfway through the first.

Quinten and Levi worked together with an awesome give and go, creating an opportunity for a corner. Shaan put his hand up and launched a perfect ball right into the box, and Julian beautifully headed it in, tying the game at 1!!! What an epic corner, a perfect ball, and a beautiful goal! The Badgers took the momentum, cruising into halftime with the game locked at 1 goal apiece!

Levie was excellent in the second half. He had consecutive saves in the first five minutes. King earned yet another possession for Tandem, passing to Van, who found Shaan in the middle. With a dizzying spin move, Shaan attacked and fired a shot!

Moments later, it was Oscar’s turn, swinging his right foot with all his might. His shot just narrowly went over the goal. After a save from Levie, Luca pushed the ball ahead to Shaan, who quite literally faked his defender out of his shoes.  Now wide open, Shaan fired a deep shot! GCS was able to flip the field, getting two corners, both well defended - Van was in the mix! Owen sent the ball deep and wide, down the left side, where Oscar set up Mason for a breakaway. The Badgers were generating tons of scoring chances!

 

With GCS on a breakaway of their own, their attacker was just wondering how long he would have until Owen arrived. Answer: .5 seconds. Owen tackled the ball away, in the box, forcing a GCS corner. They were able to score, taking a 2-1 lead.

 

The Badgers kept the pressure on. In the final five minutes, Jack found Oscar for a shot that was hit so hard that it knocked the goalie off his feet. Oscar has been working on this skill in practice, and it shows. His power is elite. Moments later, Levie found Jack in the middle. He dribbled around a defender and launched a fireball of his own. GCS made a difficult save.

 

This afternoon's battle could've gone either way. Tandem had lots of possession, generated great scoring chances, and were excellent defensively. Regardless of the outcome, it is critical to remember how far this team has come. One win last year. Four game win streak this year and a state qualifier! Jack, Luca, Oscar and Owen are an incredible group of seniors - and they were determined to make this a special season. They recruited lots of new talent: King, Dalin, Henry L, Julian, Quinten, Levie, Jace, Eli and Levi are all new additions to the team this season! The combination of a strong veteran presence and some talented new players took this squad farther than ever could have been imagined.

 

Congratulations to our Tandem Varsity Boys Soccer Badgers - a team that plays with relentless effort, no fear, excellent positioning and great teamwork. It starts with our seniors - congratulations to Owen, Oscar, Jack and Luca - who are absolutely everywhere - providing great skill and even better leadership. 

 

An enormous thank you to Coach Nemanja and Coach Nile, who have poured their heart into this season.  Our coaches are a wonderful combination of brilliant soccer minds and great role models, and we are so lucky to have them guiding our team. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication! Thank you also to Kavi, our excellent team manager, who went above and beyond throughout the season.

 

Thank you so much to the Tandem community for all of your support. It was freezing and windy today and our students chose to support their classmates and attend this away game as their preferred Halloween activity. Very cool, friends. It was wonderful to see so many families and teachers as well, at GCS and on the hill throughout the season. 

 

From one win to the state tournament, this group of footballers truly changed the culture of Tandem Soccer, accomplishing something that was truly unthinkable a year ago. Congratulations to all of you on a dream season!