The Columbus Academy boys soccer team ended its magificent  season with a combined record of 13-4-2 and won the MSL title for the second year in a row with a record of 6-0. This was an especially  great achievement, considering the team suffered many losses during this season, due to injuries.

Academy earned the thirteenth seed going into the playoffs. The boys easily defeated Village Academy 2-0 in the second round of the playoffs, after having a bye for the first week. In a thrilling October 26th semi-final match, Academy conquered Fisher Catholic in a 2-0 victory, making the opposing team look non-existent.

The team played district finals at Canal Winchester in an evenly matched game on October 29. Both teams battled for procession of the ball, making the game very intense. With many chances to score, the Vikings couldn’t  capitalize on their opportunities.

“We were a couple of evenly matched teams, but we didn’t cash in on some of the opportunities that we had,” coach Ron Leach said. “That’s the way this game can be. Sometimes you find the net, and sometimes you don’t.” Grandview had limited chances to score, but with fifteen minutes left in the game it racked up a goal–winning 1-0, bringing an end to an outstanding season for the Vikings.

The team is losing a strong core of seniors. The Vikes will have five returning starters and are eager to acquire new additions to to come back and be more competitive for the upcoming season. Academy will lose seniors Tim Eldridge, Alex Farrenkopf, Elbert Foo, Maher Latif, Mark Morford, John Petrie, Roshun Sankaran, Matt Tamarkin and Jesse Van Genugten. Eldridge was first-team, all-league, and all-district with 17 goals. Sankaran and Tamarkin were first team all-league and second-team all-district with 18 goals. Latif, Jack Lint’14 and John Michael Long’13 were second-team all-league, and George Daoud’14, Dominic Facciolla’13 and Thomas Nolan’13 were third-team all-league.

Written by Jared Harris. Photos by Jeremy Schroeder’14 and Elliot Nick’14.