by Hunter Grona & Cannan Freeman| Sports writers
With the conclusion of the Fincke Cup, the boys’ and girls’ soccer season is drawing to an end. The girls team came out on top in the yearly battle against Reagan in a close match 1-0, with the winning goal coming from Caitlin Schwartz.
“It was a team effort, we kept pushing until the end,” sophomore Caitlin Schwartz said.
The boys suffered a tough 2-1 loss Tuesday with the match coming down to the final seconds. Going in to the game the boys expected a tough, hard-fought match, and that’s exactly what Reagan provided at Blossom. Johnson wasn’t able to claw their way to victory, with the Rattlers scoring in the last minutes.
“We needed to play better as a team, and we were not playing our best defense,” sophomore Devlin Gilligan said.
Because the Johnson girls won by 1 point, and the Reagan boys won by 1 point, the trophy will be at Johnson for 6 months, and Reagan for the following 6 months.
The Fincke Cup began in 2010 as an annual event put on by Stephanie and Chistopher Finke, parents of the late Ian Fincke. Ian attended both Reagan and Johnson and played soccer for both schools. Following his tragic long-boarding accident, Ian’s parents created a foundation to provide scholarships to local students seeking a higher level education, establish a wheelchair soccer team, and to also honor the memory of their son. This is the third year for the Fincke Cup and they hope to help benefit many more lives while still remembering their son.
“It’s great to be apart of such a special event. It’s a great event for everyone involved,” girls’ coach Kara Stracener said.
The third annual Fincke Cup marks the end of the season for the boys and girls, bringing with it expectations and aspirations for the playoffs.
The girls are looking to grow off last years success and bring the state title home to Johnson. While the boys are hoping to make the playoffs for the first time in school history, looking to stir up the playoff picture. The girls have already made it in the playoffs, while the fate of the boys is still up in the air. Expectations are high for both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams, with both preparing to make a long run into the postseason.
“I told the girls they need to take it one game at a time, and focus on the game in front of us. Keep doing what we’re doing because we are improving, we just need to keep improving along the way,” Stracener said
