By David Gobel

Although the boys’ soccer team had a rough end to the regular season, losing some critical games and also losing players due to injury, the Wolverines were able to clinch a playoff berth with an overall record of 8-11-5.

“We realized that it was going to be a tough year, as we were losing great players and teams like Loyola and St. Francis were in our league,” Head Coach Freddy Arroyo said. “By league play we were mainly focused on just making CIF playoffs.”

During the season, numerous players were afflicted by nagging injuries, including forward Alex Hong ’11 and midfielder Alex Goodwin ’12.

Key games the Wolverines played included a 3-0 victory against Alemany and a 1-1 tie against Loyola. In this game, midfielder Andrew Hotchkiss ’11 injured his foot and had to be taken to the hospital for x-rays.

However, the two most crucial games of the Wolverines’ season came at the end, because without a win in at least one of those games the Wolverines would not have made CIF playoffs. First, boys’ soccer played at Crespi. The game was dead even until the the middle of the second half, but in the last 15 minutes Crespi managed to score two goals. Goalie Wade Clement ’12, filled in for an injured Wiley Webb ’12, made spectacular saves to keep the Wolverines in the game, but his effort was not enough.

In their final game, the Wolverines played Alemany on Senior Day. If they wanted to advance to playoffs, they would need to win. The Wolverines got some good chances in the first 20 minutes, but were unable to convert. However, opportunity came in the final minutes of the game when Hong was fouled in the penalty box to give Will Oliver ’11 a penalty kick, which he scored to give the Wolverines a 1-0 win.

The Wovlerines will play Simi Valley today at 3 p.m. If the Wolverines win, they will play Edison, the number one team in CIF.

“We’re going to see who we’re playing in the wild-card, and just take it one game at a time,” Arroyo said.