By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Coming off a perfect 10-0-0 season and a TVL Large championship, its safe to call expectations high for Medfield High School varsity boys soccer entering the fall of 2021. With league MVP James Leyden amongst several key members of the Warriors graduating last spring, Medfield will need to do some reshuffling.
Leading the Warriors in 2021 will be four senior co-captains: forward Kyle Gaffney, defensive midfielder Jani Passas, defender Drew Stanton and defender Connor White. Also back for the Warriors are a pair of impactful juniors in midfielder Joe McDonald and forward Chris Hoffman. Hoffman earned TVL Honorable Mention last season as a sophomore.
“Obviously, coming off a season like that we hope to keep the results flowing,” said Hoffman when asked about his team’s general expectations heading into the new season. “Given the group of guys we have, I thoroughly believe we can have another season just like that.”
Despite their unblemished record in 2020, not having a state tournament left the Warriors with a sour taste in their mouths at the season’s end. What was clearly a state-championship-caliber team never even got the chance to compete in the postseason due to COVID. With the state tournament returning and expanding to a state-wide format in 2021, the Medfield boys enter the season excited for the opportunity to take care of some unfinished business.
“We have a pretty rowdy group of guys,” said Hoffman on the thought of making a return to playoff soccer. “The excitement levels are high.”
Medfield will open the 2021 season with a non-conference matchup against Mansfield on Friday, September 3 at 3:45 p.m.
For funny and incisive sports analysis as well as video highlights of games, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter and Instagram handles @flano0.
