Farmington boys soccer caps off season with banquet

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The Farmington boys soccer team celebrated its second straight eight-win season and third-place finish in the Missota Conference with a year-end banquet Tuesday, Oct. 23.

The Tigers were led by a group of 13 seniors — the largest in coach Julian Buss’s four years at the helm.

“We had a strong team bond and senior leadership was a big contributor to this,” Buss said. “I would say that it seemed like a very special year, not so much in terms of overall wins or broken records, but in something intangible.… We had some very big wins and tough-to-stomach losses. Through the highs and lows we stayed strong as a team.”

Buss credited captains Sam Peterson, Tyler Petter-McCauley, Kaid Nokes and Urive Omana for providing leadership for the team. Peterson, the team’s primary goalkeeper, had four shutouts and was named all-conference, along with Petter-McCauley, a four-year starter, and Omana. Petter-McCauley was also named to team’s Most Valuable Player.

Blake Smith and Jared Wolt, a pair of juniors, were named honorable mention all-conference and led the team in scoring with 10 and eight points, respectively.

The Tigers finished unbeaten in games where they scored a goal this season. Their lone tie came by a score of 1-1 and all eight of their losses came via shutout, including the final four games of the season.

“Unfortunately, even though we had a stellar defense and all-conference goalie in Sam Peterson, we walked away from games that we were unable to generate any goals,” Buss said. “All eight of our losses turned out to be shutouts … a telling statistic if there ever was one.”

Among the season’s highlights were a 2-1 road victory over a Northfield team that earned the No. 1 seed in the section and a 1-0 shutout of Chaska on homecoming. The Tigers also played a tightly-contest 1-0 contest with an Owatonna squad that went on to win the section crown.

“One big difference between the Farmington squad of a year ago and the 2012 team is that going into every game we knew that we had a chance to win,” Buss said. “I can honestly say after this season that I look to see improvement next year and in the years to come.”

Tags: boys soccer, high school, sports, farmington, tigers, prep