The Hollis Brookline boys soccer team is on fire this season. After facing the first-place Windham team in their home opener and losing 4-0, the season wasn’t off to a great start. But despite the early loss, senior captains Jonathan Brackett, Ryan Olson, and Joe Brown took charge to ignite some passion into the team.

The Cavaliers were able to turn their season around quickly. Prior to their senior game with an extraordinary record of 11-4-1, the team was gearing up for a long playoff run, despite the loss of senior center midfielder Joe Brown from a concussion mid-season. The ceremony for the seniors marked the end to four years of high school soccer, which was a bittersweet moment for all nine seniors as well as their families, including JP Blasi, Jonathan Brunkhardt, Bradley Meinhardt, Brandon Meinhardt, Sam Daigle, and Caleb Russell, as well as their three captains. For these boys, though, this didn’t mark the end. Senior Captain Jonathan Brackett said, “This is my last year playing high school soccer. I’m doing everything I can to win.” However, the boys came up a bit short in their final home game of the regular season, losing to St. Thomas 2-1. Emotions ran high during the game, and according to Rebecca Balfour, the girls volleyball coach, “From a coach’s perspective, our team has had a great season. But you better bring your A-game against a team like that. Our guys worked hard but just got beat.”

Now that the boys are heading to the playoffs, shaking off this loss is crucial. Being in fourth place, the team will have a home game for their first round of playoffs, hoping to draw in a large crowd. Abi Blasi ‘20, sister of senior JP Blasi, said, “Playoffs will go really well for them, but they’re going to have to give it their all.”

The soccer team’s first playoff game will be on Wednesday, October 25, against Goffstown at 3:00pm.