Ben Murphy
Sports Scene
The season may have ended earlier than the John Glenn soccer team wanted, but the argument that it was still a good season is an easy one to make.
The Bobcats, who play as an independent, won the Bay County Championship to start the season, and that catapulted them to a 17-4-3 season. This year’s win total ties for the second most in school history.
“In past years, we would begin the season with a string of tough opponents and often started with a losing record because of that,” head coach Tom Benner said. “The tournament had us off and running. We beat both Bay City Central and Garber and tied Western to take the trophy and give them a great deal of confidence going forward. We were still only 3-1-3 after the next few matches but went 14-3 to complete the season.”
The coach credits much of the strong season to his five seniors, Jacob Bleshenski (center midfielder), Ryan Paiz (defense), Justin Page (defense), Nathan Seifferly (forward), and Connor Windiate (forward). All of them helped the team improve on last year’s six win total.
“Bleshenski has been starting in midfield since his freshman season,” Benner said. “Although he never accumulated spectacular game stats, he has been the unquestioned leader on the field since his sophomore season. Paiz and Page both took over key roles on defense as juniors and were instrumental in shutting down opponents late in games. Last year, Seifferly made the transition from starting goalie to striker, and that switch made us a much better team, making him the perfect partner for Windiate up front. Although we were not necessarily rolling over opponents, the guys were finally finding ways to win close games that had been getting away from us in previous seasons. ”
The Seifferly-Windiate formula worked well this year, as Seifferly finished with five goals and 19 assists and Windiate had 50 goals and four assists. Two of Seifferly’s goals came on free kicks of 50 and 54 yards. Windiate’s 50-goal season helped him finish with exactly 100 career goals.
“One of our team goals entering the season was to help Windiate reach the 100-goal mark,” Benner said, adding that Windiate is only the third Bobcat to reach that mark. “He needed a lofty 50 goals to accomplish this, and when he scored seven in the Bay County Tournament, we all knew this was a real possibility. Game after game, Windiate came up with big goals, netting 12 game winners on the season. The offense was clicking, and many of his goals were scored from inside the penalty area, often with one final touch, a coach’s dream scenario.”
When the team’s season came to an end with a 2-0 district loss to Mt. Pleasant, it put the coach in a reflective mode.
“As a coach, I keep things in perspective,” Benner said. “There are good seasons and bad, great wins and crushing defeats. Kids come into the program, make their mark, and then they move on; it’s the nature of the beast. This year’s senior class is one of those special groups, however. They have been the heart of the lineup since they were freshmen and made a big mark, not only in the soccer program, but also in my life and my coaching, so it will be a tough goodbye.
“But as always, we move forward,” Benner added. “I have six of 11 starters returning…It will be tough to replace [the seniors], so we may have to learn to win with lower scoring. Three defenders return, as do two midfielders, one striker, and our starting goalie. We will build from that as we return to play in the Northeast Michigan Conference next season after being independent for the last three. That is what coaching is all about.”