Streaks are meant to be broken. Unfortunately, the Norwin Boys Soccer team had their streak of 14 consecutive wins broken in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

   On Oct. 30, the boys soccer team’s season came to an end, losing 1-0 to North Allegheny in the quarterfinals. The boys had a final record of 15-2-1.

  Despite the loss, the boys had a remarkable season, with numerous team members being elected onto the “Finest Fifteen” and “All State” board. 

    On Aug. 24, the boys opened their season with a 3-2 win against Kiski. This success carried over to the rest of their season. The team was

able to go home with a win after every game except for a 0-5 loss against Seneca Valley on Sept. 4 and a 0-0 tie against Plum on Sept. 25. 

     Team members credited the team’s accomplishments to the strength and expertise of the team and coaches. 

     “A multitude of reasons made us successful,” said senior Caleb Yuricha. “The players’ drive and good ethics, not to mention the team’s skill, but also our wonderful coaching staff.”

     Although the boys weren’t thrilled with how the season ended, they were able to reflect and look back at all the good memories they made this year.

     “My favorite memory from our season is certainly the times of jokes and bonding we had,” Yuricha recalled. “That’s more important than any championship.”

      Other players echoed the good times of the season.      

     “My favorite moment from this season was the overtime win against Penn Trafford,” said senior Ryan Harrigan. “Celebrating by running into the stands with the team was a moment I’ll never forget.”

  This season in particular was one of triumph and achievement. Caleb Yuricha received a Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association All-State recognition, later recognized how that didn’t change the outcome of their season.

     “Undoubtedly I was thrilled, to an extent,” Yuricha explained. “It’s an honor to be a part of it, but being All-State didn’t win my team the WPIALs.”

     Harrigan acknowledges his disappointment in the season concluding earlier than planned.

     “I thought we would go all the way to states,” said Harrigan. “We were all mentally there and everyone believed it was possible. It was our goal since the beginning of the season to win a state title. That’s why we trained for 2 and a half hours, practicing on the weekends as well.”

In addition to Yuricha’s ranking on the All-State team, he was nominated onto the “Finest Fifteen” WPIAL 4A Section 3 player list along with four

fellow Norwin players, seniors Ryan Dimitroff, Ryan Harrigan, Riley Zimmerman and Andy Yanez.

     “I think it’s pretty neat that 5 out of the 15 players on the ‘Finest Fifteen’ are from Norwin,” said Harrigan. “However, I think that the list should have been full of even more of our players. Everyone on the team had something to do with our success this season.”

     This year was undoubtedly a successful one for the Norwin boys. Despite the bittersweet ending of the season and departure of the 2021 seniors, the boys certainly can’t wait to resume training next fall and begin another streak.