O’Dea Soccer: One Last Dance

It was the spring of 2022; O’Dea’s soccer season had just ended after a tough loss in the semifinals against the Lakeside Lions. One of the few freshmen on the varsity team that season, Enzo Christopher, walked off the field that day disappointed but also excited for the future because he knew it was just the beginning of his high school soccer career.

Fast forward three years later, the team captain and St. Martins commit is currently trying to help his team make the State Tournament so they can have one last chance at a state title. Now in his senior year, Chrstopher knows how he would like to finish his last season wearing the maroon and gold. 

“Rounding out my high school career with a playoff run would be a perfect ending, as we reach the last game of the season all the memories start to rush back, and it feels as if I was a freshman just yesterday.” 

It has been a while since O’Dea Soccer went deep in the playoffs and almost 35 years since their last state title. While this has not been one of O’Dea Soccer’s better regular seasons, Christopher knows this team has the ability to do something special in the playoffs. 

"The team has a lot of potential to make a big run, it’s going to take a lot of grit and determination to finish the season off strong, but the team has the squad to make it happen.” 

The O’Dea Fighting Irish soccer team is currently 5-6-3 on the season and ranked 3rd in the Metro league. They will face either Roosevelt or Ingraham this Friday where they will have a chance to clinch a state tourney bid with a win. The team is prepared and knows what it will take to win. 

"We have been working on playing the ball quicker and switching the point of attack. If we can start doing that consistently, we will be able to make a strong run to qualify for state”, O’Dea’s starting goalkeeper Kellen pierce stated. 

As the season and some careers are coming to an end, it will be a very bittersweet moment for the seniors since they know any upcoming game could be their last one at O’Dea. This team would obviously love to win so they can keep playing and have a chance to win the title, but more importantly they just want to give it their all and no matter how the season ends, know they left everything they had on the field.