Photo gallery: Richfield vs. Holy Angels
"For us, the catalyst is the leadership committee. We have four captains, but a leadership group of nine,” Holy Angels coach James See said. “As you saw today, we have a young group. We finished a really tense game with seven or eight underclassmen on the field and true freshmen. They’ve done a good job of keeping those kids accountable for our core values and what we do.”
Holy Angels' captains are senior midfielders Ben Frommelt and Brendan Hainey along with junior defender Everett Hoeppner and midfielder Rob Ciresi.
Frommelt assisted freshman attacker James Parish in the 22nd minute in what held as the game-winning goal.
The Stars look to Hoeppner as a model of work ethic. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the 2021 Class 2A, Section 3 final Holy Angels won 2-0 over Richfield.
Hoeppner is still limited to 30 minutes per game in his return to play plan, but that’s plenty of time on the pitch to soak in the gratitude of being back with his teammates. Hoisting a rivalry trophy is another perk.
“The rehab was a lot of work, but I knew it was for a reason,” Hoeppner said. “If I didn’t want to play soccer, I wouldn’t put the effort in. But I wanted to get back on the field and get another chance to go play in state.”
Ciresi never saw Hoeppner waver in those grueling months.
“I think he was most deserving of a captain spot on the team,” Ciresi said. It’s an honor to be one, but Everett deserves it the most. He puts in so much work. I’ve never seen someone put in so much work into rehab as Everett. He’s here every single day, hurt or not, and always has a good attitude. A big smile, motivating the guys.”
Holy Angels has played a challenging schedule thus far with a win at No. 10-2A Austin and a lone loss to the defending 1A state champion and current No. 2-1A, Southwest Christian.
“What a response from the guys,” Ciresi said, alluding to Tuesday’s defeat. “Honestly, a lot of respect for the underclassmen. They haven’t been in the program long, but they’re dedicated to everything they do. They really do all the preparation, all the nutrition. Every little advantage coach James says helped seal the deal.”
Richfield was without senior co-captain and 2021 all-state performer, defender Angel Mendez-Lopez.
It caused Richfield coach Mike Harris to do some lineup shuffling. The Spartans limited the Stars to a season-low one goal and only four shots on goal but struggled to generate chances on offense.
Richfield had Holy Angels goalkeeper Landen Kempf on attention, but the Spartans only managed one shot on goal.
Credit a veteran roster for nearly rising to the challenge. All but one player is a senior. The other is an all-state caliber junior midfielder and co-captain, Antwane Ruiz.
“We’ve got 21 seniors but we graduated 17 last year,” Harris said. “This was the kids’ first game in front of a big crowd. I think we held the ball too much. Showing up on the big stage in front of a big crowd, we kind of panicked at the end. (The Stars are) good, they play disciplined. They clear the ball in the air.”
Harris likes his team's chances to bounce back. They've been through plenty of battles.
"With 21 seniors, they grew up playing together. We have our own local youth soccer association, so they’ve been together as a unit forever. They were stuck on JV together for two years. It’s the most close-knit team we’ve had in a while and I think it’s going to be an exciting season."
See and Harris both mentioned the friendly rivalry and mutual respect between both sides.
“With five minutes left, we had three kids on each team subbing in,” See said. “Watching them all interacting and high-fiving. There were some hard plays out there, but at that point we know the rivalry has become respectable.”
The two conference foes meet just once in the regular season. If recent history is an indicator, they'll meet again October.
“They’ve had our number in the regular season the last two years, and we’ve had their number in the section final the last two years,” See said. “Let’s hope the script isn’t reversed this year.”