A record of 12-1-1 is impressive on its own, but when you take into account the shortened pre-season, the limited in-person attendance at games, and the fact that on any given day the entire season could be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it just goes to show what kind of team the 2020 Saint Ignatius JV A Soccer team was.
I had the pleasure of working closely with the team this year and really got a chance to see the determination of this team. Whether it was debating a call in a meaningless game in practice or trying your hardest to come first in springs, you could really tell that this team was built to win.
Obviously the 2020 season wasn’t what we expected it to be, and one month before the season, all Saint Ignatius sports were suspended for two weeks, as a precautionary measure to make sure that it would be safe to return to school. This threw a wrench in the Wildcats’ preseason, as they were unable to scrimmage as much as they would have liked. In fact, they only had one preseason scrimmage, and though they beat Shaker Heights 2-1, they didn’t look their best. This wouldn’t stop them, as they would work hard in practices leading up to their first game.
The Wildcats beat Massillon Jackson by a decided score of 3-0 in the season opener and didn’t look back from there. The Wildcats would outscore their next eight opponents by a combined score of 31-4 and win all eight.
In the tenth game of the season, the Wildcats would find themselves in a close battle with St. Xavier. The Cats had to travel four hours to Cincinnati to play Xavier. The game started out rough. St. Xavier scored straight out of the gate, and Saint Ignatius would find themself down for the second time in the season. The Wildcats’ resilience would shine from there, as Ernie Vargo would score on a header to tie the game up at 1-1. The clock would hit zeros with that score, but the referees elected to decide the game with penalty kicks.
Xavier Munro, Will Armsworthy, and Phil Vlastaris all made their PKs and Ben Mark would pull off three saves. The Wildcats would win the PKs. The game goes down on the record as a draw, however, to the players, it couldn’t feel any more like a win.
The next three games would be dominated by Ignatius, the scores were 5-0, 5-0, and 7-2.
The final game of the season was away against Dublin Jerome. The Wildcats had to travel down to Columbus for the game. Whether it was for that reason or not, the Cats couldn't seem to find their groove. They were down 2-0 at halftime. A goal early in the second half by Phil Vlastaris gave the Wildcats a spark of hope. However, not long after, the Celtics would score on a fluke goal, that would be the nail in the coffin. The Wildcats would suffer their first and only loss in the final game of the season. It’s a tough way to go out, losing your first game of the season in your final game, but it won’t define the season.
It’s not often that a high school soccer team goes 12-1-1, especially with what the Wildcats would go through. Being able to say that you won twelve games, in a season where you had two fewer weeks of practice then anybody else, though a global pandemic is truly special. The Saint Ignatius JV A 2020 Soccer season was truly great.