EDWARDSVILLE – For the six seniors who played their final home match for Metro-East Lutheran’s boys soccer team – Christian Brown, Logan McDaniel, Brent Woolsey, Andrew Masters, Noah Landers and Nolan Gutjahr – it was a night to remember, as Landers scored four times – three in a second-half explosion – in a 5-0 win over Staunton Thursday night at Knights’ Field.
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In a post-match interview, each of the seniors gave their thoughts on the match and shared a favorite memory of their time as players.
“I feel we played very well,” Brown said. “The first half, we started off kind of sluggish; we kind of let them control the ball. But then, in the second half, we had a little more momentum, and we were carrying the ball a lot more, and I think we played a lot better.”
Landers described his goals in a very cheeky and humorous fashion.
“They were all beautiful,” Landers said as he and his teammates laughed. “The first one was a (penalty kick). I got past the guy, he chopped my ankle, I went down. The second one was just good linkup play between me and Logan; we’re passing through the (midfield), we got through. The third one and one of our sophomores. We were passing it back and forth in the (midfield), I got open and shot it in the bottom corner. It just worked out perfectly.”
Gutjahr shared Brown’s viewpoint about the outcome.
“I thought we did really well,” Gutjahr said. “As Christian said, I think we started out a little sluggish in the first half, but in the second half, we were really passing around, and making good connections, and I think that’s what really helped us win the game.”
McDaniel agreed that the Knights’ passing was a key to their win.
“I think passing was the key in this one,” McDaniel said. “The first half, we didn’t get our passes down very well, but in the second half, we really started passing the ball well, moving the ball, and the result is on the scoreboard. We got a lot of goals in the second half, and helped us get the momentum going, and just win the game.”
Woolsey wore the captain’s armband from the backfield and offered a different perspective.
“I had a different perspective from the backfield,” Woolsey said. “I didn’t really get to get utilized, but that’s OK. We started working the ball around a lot more, we were getting the ball in the midfield, we started moving outside, we started dribbling too much, and we would lose it, because they pressured quick. We just had to learn how to keep it away from them, basically.”
Masters also had a different perspective of the game as well.
“From where I was seeing, first half, we were not connecting passes; things weren’t going very well,” Masters said. “Second half, we really pulled together, and we connected our passes; they were nice and crisp. We could move around their defense, and everything connected a lot better in the second half.”
Each of the seniors offered a favorite memory of their time being on the team, and in a couple of instances, shared a funny story about a former teammate.
“Probably just hanging out with the guys every day, coming out two hours playing soccer,” Master said. “That’s what I love.”
Woolsey told a story about a former teammate named John Hubbard during a regional.
“A couple years ago, I’ve gotta set the picture,” Woolsey said. “It was our regional match, and we had a senior named John Hubbard, and the ball was coming down. And we all said ‘take it off the head.’ And he said ‘I’m not taking that off the head!’ And it just bounced right in front of him, and we all laughed at hm. And we realized that he was not dedicated to the team. And that’s just what I want to portray. This year, we’ve got a team that’s all dedicated. It’s nice.”
For McDaniel, it was coming out and playing the game with his teammates.
“Honestly, just coming out with the boys every day and playing soccer,” McDaniel said. “At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to play or not this year, but when I came out, I was happy I did, made some great friends, great teammates and had a lot of fun out here. I have not regretted coming out here, and I’m happy I did it.”
Gutjahr shared favorite memories of bus rides to and from road matches.
“I just really enjoyed the bus rides,” Gutjahr said. “I remember that there would be sometimes when the where the bus driver had some problems, hit a pole or a car or something, and we would all just laugh it up in the back. And I think that was my favorite memory of soccer.”
Landers has a very simple memory of him and his teammates.
“Probably just getting to play soccer with your best friends,” Landers said. “It’s a beautiful time.”
Brown shared another story involving Hubbard, to the delightful laughs of his teammates.
“I’m going to go with the character of John Hubbard,” Brown said. “One time, we had a keeper, wasn’t the best, didn’t always use his hands, and a ball got past him. And then, John Hubbard walked up to him, grabbed his hand and said ‘use ‘em!’ And I thought that went pretty deep.”
The Knights start their postseason campaign next Wednesday as they play at Breese Central in the IHSA Class 1A Regional. Woolsey knows that if Metro-East plays their style of soccer, good things will happen.
“I’d like to say if we just play our game, we can take it to anybody,” a confident Woolsey said. “Specifically Breese Central, who we’re going to play.”
