SEATTLE-The Irish soccer team sit in 4th in the Metro Mountain league (upper division) with a 7-5-2 record. After starting the season with a loss to Kamiak 3-0 in their first game, then rebounded with a 2-1 win against Lakeside who was a state finalist last season.
The only consistent trend for the Irish has been inconsistency. O’Dea’s biggest win was against reigning state champs, Lincoln 1-0 with a go-ahead goal by Duke commit Julius Suber.
The Irish are going into the playoffs going 1-1-1 in their past three matches.
Star sophomore transfer Hugh Lear thinks that the hard work the Irish have been putting in has been paying off before playoffs.
“I think we are very prepared for the playoffs; we have been putting in a lot of effort in and out of training. We have proved throughout the year that we are a championship contender team at our best. I believe that we can win a championship if we come together as a team and work with each other.”
Lear has had a very wild first season on First Hill, after moving back to Seattle from being with the Columbus Crew youth team. At the start of the season Lear had a scare in which he thought he had a torn meniscus but would later be found out to be a mild tear.
Lear came back and rehabbed just in time for the season, only missing 2 games. Ever since he was back the Irish looked like a much better team.
The Irish’s first fixture in the playoffs will be against Ballard. O'Dea has played against Ballard twice loosing the first one on a close 2-1 loss and loosing the second one by a wider margin of 2-0.
While there have been obstacles Lear still believes this team can make a push.
“The biggest setback from this year has been injuries. We have had about one of our starters out almost every game. In all I would say one of our biggest struggles is also coming together as a team and finishing important games. I believe we are a great team, but great teams win easy games and finish out games.”
It is obvious that the Irish and especially Lear are hungry to win this year and won't stop at anything until they write their underdog story.