By the time students entered the new school year, the boys soccer season had already kicked off. The season, however, started pretty rough, as many players had to adapt to their new roles on the team.
The Mavs were coming off a LVC championship in 2024, but were replacing many key seniors who graduated. Luckily, players adjusted to their new roles and the team rallied with six straight wins to end the year, finishing fourth with a 10-4-1 record before districts. The team’s season ended with a difficult 1-0 loss against a talented Walled Lake Central squad.
Coming into the new season, many things had to change from last year with players who did not contribute or play key roles the previous season being thrust into new opportunities. As Team Captain Anthony Baidas stated, “We had a very solid backline, and we were able to work and build around it, so we’ve definitely had to switch our mentality from relying on our defense for goal production.” The team ended up using their more forward players to score goals, utilizing their midfield and wings as opposed to the very defense-supported goal scoring of last year. “Any time you lose nine starters from the season before; I thought everyone picked up the pieces really well,” Head Coach Tommy Hipple commented, noting how the team overcame the loss of many starters to produce a successful season. However, next year the team may face a similar issue, with many starters, and the entirety of defense being made up of seniors, though there are many younger players who stepped up immensely.
Hipple said it took a lot of work to produce the strong defensive performances that ended the season “We had a little rough spout at the beginning, with giving up three goals right off the bat,” he noted of the team’s first win 4-3 over a Waterford Mott team that would not win a league game, “and then [we] slowly were getting into our defensive mind, of how we play defense.”
As the season progressed, the team took their shape a lot more. “I think the team has come a long way, from the start of the season and improved a lot defensively,” Team Captain Nick Dziedzic said. That improvement throughout the season, especially defensively, led to the team winning many more games in the middle and end of the season, highlighted by a six-game winning streak leading up to the district game against Walled Lake Central. Unfortunately, some major losses came this season, including a 2-0 loss to their rival Lakeland High school.
Many players started to stand out this year, with the opportunity presenting itself for many players to make their mark, as the vacancy left by the seniors that graduated last year. One of these players that made an impact on the team was Lucas Lansberry, who lead the team in both goals and assists while playing other teams in the conference. The team will have a similar problem to last year, as many key players are once more, seniors. The entirety of defense is made up of seniors, including both captains, Anthony Baidas and Nick Dziedzic, causing problems for the team next year. Although the defense will be difficult to replace, the midfield and forward positions will be just fine, characterized by many young players that can continue the good that they did this year.
The Milford High School boys soccer team has set the bar high, so while the team did not win the league title, they experienced a tremendous amount of success after the rocky start. Although the season ended abruptly, many younger players stepped up into important roles, making the future of the team look very bright.
