DPS Boys Soccer
Inexperience, injuries and a tough non-district schedule tested the Carroll boys soccer team as they entered district competition. The talented young Dragons shook off a challenging start to the season before going 8-1-1 over its final 10 games as they headed into the playoffs as the district’s No. 2 seed.
The Dragons opened the playoffs with a 3-1 win over North Crowley as junior midfielder Liam Burns (team-leading 11 assists this season) provided the hat trick. The Dragons reached the postseason’s second round before losing to familiar opponent El Paso Eastlake, but the team’s coaching staff says there are many positive takeaways for a squad that finished the season 14-7-2 overall and 8-3-1 in district.
“It's a step in the right direction,” third-year head coach Chris Padilla says. “To have such an influence by younger players and to have them get the experience of what playing at the next level looks like, playing in the playoffs, giving them a taste of it, I think is really good to set us up for the future.”
The Dragons are set to return playmakers next year, including junior forward and District Co-MVP Fife Adeyemo (nine goals, seven assists). Better still, John Skiermont, only a freshman, was the team’s top scorer with 10 goals and an assist and was named the district’s Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Joining him is fellow freshman Hyoungju Kim, who was named Midfield Newcomer of the Year.
A big reason for the Dragons’ late-season resurgence was due to senior Charlie Su’s return to the field. Su, who has played various positions from forward to defender, was injured the first part of the year but made an impact upon his return.
“When he got fit and rejoined us about halfway through district, it unlocked everything for us,” Padilla says of Su, who was named the district’s Utility Player of the Year. “You could make the argument that he was the most important player on our team. [His return] allowed us to play the type of soccer we wanted to play.”
With Su in proper form, the Dragon style of play became less direct offensively and more about maintaining possession, changing the point of attack and connecting passes from the middle to the final third for scoring opportunities. Carroll saw its district scoring rise from 10 goals in the first half to 20 goals with Su in play.
Defensively, the Dragons were anchored by sophomore goalkeeper Graham Byrne, who replaced former keeper Alex Hall — one of 20 seniors to graduate from the 2023 team. Senior center back Jet Statham provided quality individual defending as Carroll allowed a meager 1.1 goals per game and recorded five shutouts.
“We had players unavailable in that second round… and what we learned about our team is whoever we plug into the starting 11 was going to fight,” Padilla says. “I think that our mentality in that game was excellent."
As reported on May 16, 2024.