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Panther season ends on high note
  
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By Ryan Boldrey
The Woodland Park boys soccer team did not have its best season in history in 2009.
However, despite a 4-10-1 record, coach Andy Pappadakis saw some things in the final week that would make any coach proud.
In fact on senior night Oct. 20 at Woodland Park, the Panthers put together what Pappadakis called the best half of soccer he has seen in his six years at the school.
Led by a Josh Parr hat trick and a dominating brand of ball control not seen all this season, the Panthers stymied visiting Palmer Ridge (13-2) in the first half, and took a 3-1 lead into the half.
The Bears fought back in the second, however, and after trimming things to 3-2 used a Woodland Park own goal and a penalty shot in the final 12 minutes of the game to come from behind for the 4-3 win.
“That was the best team [we’ve played] and this was the best game we played all season. It was unbelievable, high quality all the way,” Pappadakis said. “Here you have a top-seeded team going into the playoffs celebrating that they beat us on a penalty [shot] and with an own goal. That tells you something.”
According to Palmer Ridge coach Nick Odil it told him that this is a much improved team in Woodland over the past couple years, and that the Panthers came to play.
Odil was an assistant at Lewis-Palmer before he arrived at Palmer Ridge last year, so he has had the opportunity to watch them grow.
“I feel for the guys, they deserve better,” Pappadakis said after the loss. “As a whole they played fantastic soccer. We were spot on. We were the team that we should’ve been all season long. But once again, this is just how it goes for us. Let’s just be honest, if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be and this year was not meant to be, and it’s no fault of theirs.”
In fact, the team played some of its best soccer this year against the best teams in the area, staying close with Palmer Ridge, Cheyenne Mountain (11-1-3), Castle View (11-3) and Lewis-Palmer (9-4-1).
The one glaring problem Pappadakis said was that all season they were not able to follow up a strong effort against anyone with a solid game the next time out.
“We’ve been our own worst enemy at times, that much is true,” he said. “The quality of play has not been this high consistently, but it keeps coming back, so that tells you it’s not a fluke.”
Three of the last four games the Panthers put forth an effort that pleased their coach, however, and for the first time all season, they were able to rope together a pair of good games on the pitch as they closed things out with two straight solid “A” efforts.
Following the loss against Palmer Ridge, Woodland went down to Falcon, and ended the season with a 5-0 shutout, scoring four times in the first half, and not even coming close to relinquishing the lead this time.
Parr scored twice for Woodland as True Jones, Phil Simon and Phillip Yargar each got it past the Falcon keeper once, leaving Pappadakis poised and ready for next season.
“We are going to be very solid next year,” he said. “I have no worries at this point about next year. We are brining up some good JV talent. They are already working a good system with coach [Brian] Ray so they are going to flow in very seamlessly and it’s going to work very well.”
In addition to the talent coming up, the team’s three leading goal scorers in juniors Parr (10 goals, 1 assist) and Jones (4 goals, 4 assists), as well as the sophomore Simon (4 goals) will all be back next year along with sophomore netminder Santana Padilla.
“The reality next year is going to be different than this,” Pappadakis said. “ It has to be.”
However, despite a 4-10-1 record, coach Andy Pappadakis saw some things in the final week that would make any coach proud.
In fact on senior night Oct. 20 at Woodland Park, the Panthers put together what Pappadakis called the best half of soccer he has seen in his six years at the school.
Led by a Josh Parr hat trick and a dominating brand of ball control not seen all this season, the Panthers stymied visiting Palmer Ridge (13-2) in the first half, and took a 3-1 lead into the half.
The Bears fought back in the second, however, and after trimming things to 3-2 used a Woodland Park own goal and a penalty shot in the final 12 minutes of the game to come from behind for the 4-3 win.
“That was the best team [we’ve played] and this was the best game we played all season. It was unbelievable, high quality all the way,” Pappadakis said. “Here you have a top-seeded team going into the playoffs celebrating that they beat us on a penalty [shot] and with an own goal. That tells you something.”
According to Palmer Ridge coach Nick Odil it told him that this is a much improved team in Woodland over the past couple years, and that the Panthers came to play.
Odil was an assistant at Lewis-Palmer before he arrived at Palmer Ridge last year, so he has had the opportunity to watch them grow.
“I feel for the guys, they deserve better,” Pappadakis said after the loss. “As a whole they played fantastic soccer. We were spot on. We were the team that we should’ve been all season long. But once again, this is just how it goes for us. Let’s just be honest, if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be and this year was not meant to be, and it’s no fault of theirs.”
In fact, the team played some of its best soccer this year against the best teams in the area, staying close with Palmer Ridge, Cheyenne Mountain (11-1-3), Castle View (11-3) and Lewis-Palmer (9-4-1).
The one glaring problem Pappadakis said was that all season they were not able to follow up a strong effort against anyone with a solid game the next time out.
“We’ve been our own worst enemy at times, that much is true,” he said. “The quality of play has not been this high consistently, but it keeps coming back, so that tells you it’s not a fluke.”
Three of the last four games the Panthers put forth an effort that pleased their coach, however, and for the first time all season, they were able to rope together a pair of good games on the pitch as they closed things out with two straight solid “A” efforts.
Following the loss against Palmer Ridge, Woodland went down to Falcon, and ended the season with a 5-0 shutout, scoring four times in the first half, and not even coming close to relinquishing the lead this time.
Parr scored twice for Woodland as True Jones, Phil Simon and Phillip Yargar each got it past the Falcon keeper once, leaving Pappadakis poised and ready for next season.
“We are going to be very solid next year,” he said. “I have no worries at this point about next year. We are brining up some good JV talent. They are already working a good system with coach [Brian] Ray so they are going to flow in very seamlessly and it’s going to work very well.”
In addition to the talent coming up, the team’s three leading goal scorers in juniors Parr (10 goals, 1 assist) and Jones (4 goals, 4 assists), as well as the sophomore Simon (4 goals) will all be back next year along with sophomore netminder Santana Padilla.
“The reality next year is going to be different than this,” Pappadakis said. “ It has to be.”
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