ANTHONY GETTINO
Sports Editor
After a long pause due to COVID-19, fall sports have finally begun to have competition again this season. Although the teams missed just one competitive season because of the pandemic, it seems like forever since the sports season got to go in full swing.
One of the teams that was affected was men’s soccer.
Although the team had lost the opportunity to compete last year, the players from that team had the option to come back to school and complete their eligibility.
That’s what senior Jackson Retzer decided to do, and it’s paid off.
Retzer is a senior business administration major with a minor in sports management. Retzer is an alum of Williamsville North High School.
Before this past weekend, the Blue Devils were sitting at 6–8 overall and 1–5 in the SUNYAC. Depending on how the rest of their conference games shake out, the team has a chance to compete at the SUNYAC playoffs.
Retzer said making the playoffs “would mean absolutely everything to me. In my four years here, I’ve never gotten a taste of the playoffs. I came back due to COVID and this has all I’ve been thinking about for a full year. These last two weeks are going to be a grind, but I can feel the energy in the locker room and at practices. Everyone wants success and it’s a really good feeling to be around a culture like the one we have.”
The team seems ready for the challenge that this may prove to be. Retzer said, “with four games remaining in the SUNYAC regular season, our goal is to win as many as possible for a really good chance to make it into the playoffs. We’ve been in every league game that we’ve played this year and that just drives us to believe that we can do anything.”
If the team had a bit more luck, they may have an easier path toward reaching their goal of the SUNYAC playoffs. When asked about the overall play of the team so far this season, Retzer said, “this is a weird year, the team as a whole has played very well. Our record isn’t quite showing it, but we haven’t been able to find lucky bounces like our opponents have been. That being said, my teammates have helped me to perform to the best of my abilities.”
These close games have helped them in other ways, even disregarding the record in these matches.
“All these close games have created a culture throughout the team that emphasizes fighting for every minute of every game,” Jackson says.
Jackson believes that “soccer is 100% a team effort.” It will take an entire team effort to overcome the odds and make it to their first SUNYAC playoffs in five years, but the entire Fredonia State campus is rooting for it to happen.