Mission Accomplished: Sem Boys Soccer’s Storybook Run

Family.

Oftentimes, that word is cliche, but that is exactly what the group of boys playing at Wyoming Seminary was this past fall. Even early on in the season, the team truly exemplified their dedication to the sport as everyone was laser-focused during non-mandatory open fields. Once again this year, the squad was under the direction and coaching of Aaron Littzi. Coach Littzi made sure to put an emphasis on the importance of unity and togetherness throughout his talks with the forty plus members on the practice field. The Sem boys soccer team has always had a great leadership presence from its captains and upperclassmen; however, it just seems like these prominent figures stepped their game up this year – both on the pitch and in the locker room. One of these leaders for the team was junior captain, Owen Stretanski. Being the only junior captain this season, Owen understood that “it [was] a really good honor” and also added that “anyone can be a leader” which those in attendance at the games would be able to easily tell from watching this unit. Along with the other two captains of the team, Matt Swartz and Sam Rolland, Owen helped to lead his team to win the PIAA District 2A Class A championship.

As is the case for most championship-winning teams, the road to the trophy is not a walk in the park by any means. This team was battle-tested early on in the season when their starting goalie, Zachary Raklewicz, unfortunately suffered a shoulder injury which effectively ended his goalkeeping duties for the team. The coaching staff decided on handing the goalkeeper spot to sophomore Cash Hanson-Richart who ended up finishing the year with the second most clean-sheets in all of PIAA’s District 2. The transition from center back to goalkeeper for Cash seemed almost seamless, as he was one of the major contributors in helping the Blue Knights bring the title back home.

The scoring attack for Sem was spearheaded by senior captain, Matthew Swartz and junior left winger, Artur Zelenko. Scoring goals for this team was absolutely no problem at all. The hard work that the boys put in during weekly practices clearly paid off as the team was able to find the back of the net a total of ninety one times. Talking about scoring a lot of goals, arguably the best outing for a member coming off the bench for the Blue Knights this year was Finn Ruderman’s hat trick in which he supplied the team instant offense off of the bench to beat Wyoming Area in a regular season contest.

One of the biggest matchups for the team in the beginning part of the season was when one of Sem’s biggest rivals, Holy Redeemer, crossed the Market Street Bridge over the Susquehanna River to play Sem at Nesbitt Memorial Stadium. The Royals were no match for the Blue Knights as they took care of business at home with a score of 4-1. Another decisive game for the team was when they hosted the Black Knights of Lake Lehman in a showdown to essentially crown the Wyoming Valley Conference champion. The score of the match was deadlocked for the whole first half and for the first fourth of the second half until Matt Swartz took matters into his own hands and scored on an unassisted strike to power the Blue Knights to a 1-0 victory to claim the conference title.

Following the victory over Lake Lehman, the team was certainly proud to have earned the honor of champions of the WVC, but every single member on that team knew that this was just another part of their journey to their eventual goal. The boys would continue to battle hard in their next game against Berwick to finish their season with a record of 15-2, securing home field advantage for the entirety of the PIAA District 2A postseason. Senior Adrian Rojo spoke about the message that Coach Littzi tried to echo throughout the locker room which was to “make sure to take it one game at a time” and to “understand that we are three wins away” from their title quest.

After a slow first-half start against the Preppers of MMI in the district quarterfinal matchup, the team was able to pull away to finish with a 6-0 result to move on to play the Mountain View Eagles in the semifinals. This matchup against the Eagles was a back-and-forth contest that had spectators on the edges of their seats, and the score was all knotted up at three apiece headed into the final fifteen minutes of the second half. The tables turned for Wyoming Seminary when Owen Stretanski drew a foul in the penalty box which gave Artur Zelenko an opportunity to thrust the Blue Knights into the championship game – and he did just that. When asked after the game about his ability to step up and hit big time shots in intense situations, Artur explained how “the pressure does not bother” him at all and in fact, “embracing the pressure” is something that Artur thrives from. By securing this semifinal win, the Blue Knights set themselves up for a heavily-anticipated and predicted championship showdown against the Holy Redeemer Royals. Before that clash of two titans of NEPA soccer, senior captain Sam Rolland described how “this is [his] last run as a senior in high school” and that he “wants to leave it all on the field” with the aim of winning his second district title with Sem.

It all came down to a 6:00 PM matchup on Halloween night at Wyoming Seminary’s own Nesbitt Memorial Stadium. One of the best words to describe this year’s soccer team would be resilient. They needed to bring out every ounce of resiliency out of them as they gave up an early goal within the first minute of the game to the Royals. For the rest of the first half, the Blue Knights were shutout, but they did a much better job of containing Holy Redeemer. During the halftime huddle, Coach Littzi preached to his boys that “we are going to win this game”, and the Blue Knights were able to deliver through for their head coach. Artur Zelenko gave Sem the equalizer they needed from the penalty spot to tie the game up at one apiece. Sem was able to tack on two more goals – one from Owen Stretanski and the other one from Adrian Rojo.

The atmosphere following the notable win for Sem was absolutely electric as members from the student section ran onto the field to celebrate with the players. It was a night that those in attendance will never forget. Stretanski echoed this message when he claimed that “it was probably the best moment of my life” to be able to share that moment with his teammates, friends, and loved ones.

Among all the commendable accomplishments for the boys this year, Matt Swartz cemented his name into the history books by passing the 100 goal mark for his career – also making him the all-time scoring leader for the Sem Boys Soccer team. Just like the rest of the seniors, Swartz made sure to speak on how “Sem soccer is truly a lot of fun” and how the team has been a main part of his childhood.

Another remarkable aspect of this team is their unique diversity that they have among their players. The squad had a couple of notable additions to their group from overseas this year. Among these significant contributors to the team were junior Jonathan Gerold as well as sophomore Lucas Latorre.

The Sem boys soccer team was able to comfortably win their round of sixteen game in the PIAA Class 1A state tournament. The Blue Knights then went to Whitehall, PA, to take on the Blazers of Lancaster Mennonite who eventually were crowned the PIAA Class 1A state champions. Wyoming Seminary put up a more than respectable outing, conceding the game 2-1 to the Blazers.

This season will not be remembered by this loss in the state playoffs. This season will be looked back upon as one that was full of energy and an immense amount of love and passion for the game and one another. For the boys on the team, it really means something special to them to be able to put on the Blue Knight uniform. The team was full of talented players who guided the team to their district championship win. However, talent only gets a team so far. Maybe only some people have natural talent at a certain thing in life, but anybody and everybody has the ability to work hard. This Blue Knights team showed that they must not always rely on their talent, but they must rely on their hard work and camaraderie to help them complete their mission.

Members of the Wyoming Seminary boys soccer team knew that they were expected to win this district title, and when a group is expected to do something, there is only one thing to do about it – meet the expectations and soar high above them.

The Mission Demanded is now Mission Accomplished.