Goal-oriented Griffins showing net gains

MANCHESTER, NH – The target may look different, but the goal is the same.

Put the ball in the net.

The Holy Family Academy boys soccer team, featuring several familiar faces from the defending Division I-IV boys basketball state runner-up squad, have quietly put together several wins on the soccer pitch under first-year head coach Dan Mitchell, who grew up on and around the European football pitch as a native of Leeds, England.

“We are known as a basketball school, so part of my job coming in is to make them known as a football school, as a soccer school (as well), so hopefully that’s what we’re doing, engendering good habits in kids that are coming through the program,” said Mitchell. “We’ve had some good results, we’ve played some decent football at times … we’re quite a young team that’s still developing, and I think there’s still quite a bit of developing for us to do.”

In their Senior Day match on Monday, the Griffns (6-9) suffered a 5-1 home loss to Sunapee (8-5-2), but Mitchell noted marked growth in his team despite the recent setback.

“We’re a lot more competitive with these games now than what we were with some of these bigger schools. You know, we’re a school of 58 and we’re competing against schools of  300, so it’s tough and we’re a little behind the eight ball just in terms of numbers,” he said. “The boys have done really well. They’ve bought in. They’ve got a good work ethic, and I’m trying to get across to them they’ve got to earn the right to play, and if they do that, the rewards will come.”

The fruits of that effort and mentality are already evident.

“We’ve given some teams that have beaten us handily and handsomely in the first few weeks, when we’ve played them in the repeat games, we’ve given them really good games,” said Mitchell.

Indeed, after losing a home match to Mascenic, 6-2, on Aug. 29, the Griffins lost a 3-2 heartbreaker, on the road, to the same foe, on Oct. 9. Similarly, they fell, 3-0 at home to Portsmouth on Sept. 20 only to be edged, 1-0, when the teams met again on Oct. 10.

“As I said, we don’t have huge numbers, so we’ve got to try to create a culture within our group.,” said Mitchell. “We’ve got a really good set of kids … they’re really nice kids, sometimes too nice, but … I’ve enjoyed working with them.”

The season does feature many highlights for Holy Family.

The Griffins earned back-to-back road victories over Somersworth and Pittsfield, 3-2 and 3-0, respectively, on Aug, 31 and Sept. 8. They defeated the same foes at home, 4-0 and 9-0, on Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, and also earned a noteworthy 5-3 road victory against Sunapee on Sept. 26.

A major part of that progress has been the buy-in and play of the team’s seniors – including Gabe Lacasse, Patrick Gillis, Joe Depuydt, Paul Williams and goalie Ryan Otterson – who were all honored by the school in front of friends and family following Monday’s contest.

“The seniors that we’ve had this year have been really good, they’ve helped drive the culture of the team, they’ve all worked really hard, and they’ve all been very coachable, so I think that we’ve seen a noticeable improvement from the first two or three weeks of the season, and we’ve tightened up as a team,” said Mitchell. “We’ve become a lot more competitive, and we’re also trying to play a little bit of good football now and again, so we’re getting there.”

After defeating Hinsdale, 4-1, at home on Oct. 3, Mitchell is hoping his team can produce a similar result on the road when they close out the regular season against the same opponent at 4 p.m. Thursday.

However Holy Family fares in the playoffs, Mitchell said he’s encouraged by the direction of his team.

“I’m looking forward to next season. There’s going to be a new batch of players I’m looking forward to working with and I’m excited about that.” he said. “We are losing a bunch of seniors, and in many ways, I wish I’d had them for more than just the last year. I would have liked to work with them for a year or two, and I think we could’ve gone a bit further with them.”

Sophomore Enzo Yonkeu (who scored against Sunapee off an Andrew Dillon assist), is among those expected to return and help the Griffins take the next step in 2024.

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