GLEN CARBON – The Father McGivney Catholic High School boys soccer program is having another record-setting season, and senior captain Lucas Roedl knows it.
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It was the program’s fifth regional plaque, but it also broke another win barrier.
For the first time in program history, the Griffins have won 20 games.
“I didn’t realize that until today, one of my seniors on the ride home told me that this was a chance to not only get back to where we’ve been but achieve new land that we’ve not seen yet with a 20-win season,” head coach Brett Schubert said.
Who told him that fact?
Roedl.
“He’s my stats guy,” Schubert said with a grin. “He keeps track of the shutouts and the wins and all that.”
And all of the recent success is getting hard to keep track of.
“We had lost all of our stat leaders last year,” Roedl said after helping win a regional championship. “They all graduated, including our leading goal scorers. We definitely had a little bit of a chip because it’s hard when you have a small school like we have to replace that year after year.”
Spencer Martin (33 goals, 11 assists) left a big hole to fill in attack, but he wasn’t the only one. Aaron Broadwater scored eight goals, Mason Holmes and Chris Marchetti each had seven, Alec Frohnert had six, and Spencer Sundberg scored four.
That’s at least 65 goals that graduated.
“We had like 100 something goals last year, compared to this year, where it’s around 60,” stat man Roedl said. “But it hasn’t mattered that much because of our defense.”
That defense has been a huge part of this 20-win season. 17 of those 20 wins have been shutouts, smashing the record they set in 2018 with 13. McGivney posted 10 shutouts a season ago.
While most of the attackers graduated, the defense, including standout junior goalkeeper Patrick Gierer and senior right back Anthony Harkins (both captains as well), all returned.
“We come back to half, the goal is to keep a zero on the board, and I take a lot of pride in that defensively,” Roedl said. “This year, we’re setting records for the school. It’s been cool to look at the defense and say we’ve been shutting everybody down.”
And some familiar faces have stepped up offensively as well. Will Rakers, who raked in eight goals and six assists a season ago, now leads the team in scoring with 25 goals. Owen Weissert has nine, and Gus Range has seven.
It’s the first time the Father McGivney boys soccer program has posted a 20-win season. It came close last year under head coach Matt McVicar, finishing 19-5-2, which surpassed the previous win record for a season of 16, set in 2018.
“It’s really nice because we knew we were close to it last year,” Roedl said. “We had lost a bunch of seniors, and for the most part, the area was kind of looking at us like, ‘Oh, maybe Father McGivney fell off a little bit.’ We were just coming back to prove that we are still strong and better than we were last year.”
Last season saw the Griffins make it to the sectional championship game, where they lost 3-2 to Columbia. McGivney led 2-0 at halftime, but the Eagles scored three unanswered to win in overtime.
“That’s been on my mind for the whole year,” Roedl said. “And then in my freshman and sophomore years, we lost to Columbia. So it’s been on my mind a long time.”
McGivney did best Columbia for the first time in its program history by a score of 1-0 back on September 20.
It’s a possibility that the teams meet again in the sectional championship game, which is scheduled for Saturday, November 1, at 6 p.m. at Father McGivney.
“It’s like a storybook ending, senior year, to come back to the home field and finally get past the giant that is Columbia,” Roedl said.
“That was always the expectation,” he continued. “We have the expectation to win everything we can. Regionals, we look at that as the minimum. We have super-sectionals, state champs on our minds. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
But for the time being, the Griffins will enjoy the weekend as regional champs before getting back to the grindstone in a few short days.
“I know it means a lot to these kids, I know it means a lot to these seniors,” Schubert said. “It’s an exciting day, but we’re hungry for more.”
