When a soccer team finishes the regular season with a 2-8-3 record and a seven-game winless streak, most people wouldn’t expect them to advance past their district tournament and into the regional playoffs.
Not even their coach.
(Courtesy of Freedom High School)
“Realistically, no,” said Freedom High School boys’ soccer coach Charlie Haueter. The team finished a tough early part of their schedule 2-2-2, and he felt like they had a good chance to finish strong with their remaining opponents. But when that didn’t happen and the losses piled up, he thought it just wasn’t their year.
But, the Patriots proved a lot of people wrong.
In the first round of their district tournament, they knocked off Mitchell High School, who had a 17-5-1 record at the time. In the second round, they scored a season-high five goals and defeated Chamberlain High School. That doubled their season win total, put them in the district finals and earned them a berth in the regional tournament.
“I think my seniors realized it was about to end, and they didn’t want it to (end),” Haueter said. Their good play didn’t end there, either: Although they lost in the finals to Wiregrass Ranch, who was 23-1-1 at the time, they took a 1-0 lead in that game and were tied at the half.
Even though the Bulls won the district title by a 3-1 score, Freedom’s effort wasn’t lost on Wiregrass Ranch coach David Wilson.
“They’re one of those teams that put all the pieces together at the right time,” he said. “The coach did a really nice job with them, too.”
Haueter’s job was pretty tough this year, overcoming a number of obstacles on the team’s way to the playoffs. First, their star player, Mohammed Saad, missed most of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. He had scored five goals in the first six games, and they missed his skills on the pitch.
He also had disciplinary problems during the season. The better high school players tend to play club level soccer in addition to high school soccer, Haueter explained. With the majority of his players also participating in club soccer, many of them weren’t giving enough attention to their high school team.
So he had them sign a contract, agreeing to give their full effort and participation. And when they failed to live up to that promise, there were consequences.
“We had to bench guys,” Haueter said. “I don’t think they believed that we were going to stick to the rules.” That means benching seniors, playing freshmen, and suffering losses. Throw in more injuries and the negative attitudes that can stem from losing, and a district run seemed out of the question at the end of the year.
But when they bought in to the system, and started being accountable for their participation, they pulled together and earned a berth in the regional tournament. Seeing the players overcome their early struggles was rewarding for the coach, who also teaches Advanced Placement classes at Freedom.
“Anytime you see kids maturing in high school, it is a great and wonderful thing,” he said.
Unfortunately, the regional playoffs didn’t have a great or wonderful ending for the team. They lost to Kathleen on Jan. 29 by a 3-1 score that included several disciplinary cards issued and Haueter being ejected toward the end of the game. The coach said the ejection was unwarranted, there were many complaints about the officiating that day, and he’s writing a letter to the Florida High School Athletic Association.
But regardless of the final outcome, Freedom went from a two-win team in the regular season to playing in the regional tournament. And playing younger players while others were being disciplined means, they’ll have more experience when next season rolls around.
And, since the team knows that full effort is required to participate in Freedom soccer, Haueter thinks next year’s team will be more dedicated and able to focus on winning.
“I’m a pretty firm believer that we’re not going to have any of the same issues,” he said.
Published February 4, 2015
