Peglegs’ Season Ends Just Short of Playoffs

The Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s boys’ soccer team, finished the regular season in fourth place with a record of 4-1-5, ultimately failing to make the playoffs. Though they needed to finish the season with a tied or winning regular season record and did play against the top opposition in the division, the team was unable to win any of their last three games. The Peglegs lost 3-0 to division leaders and rival Martin Luther King Jr. High School (MLK), then followed up with a 1-1 draw against Columbia Secondary School. In their final game against Washington Irving High School, the team lost 2-1 at Pier 40 in front of a home crowd.

MLK again affirmed their division superiority in their victory over the Peglegs, 3-0. The scoreline showed a disappointing turnaround from earlier in the season, when the Peglegs fought MLK tooth and nail to a narrow 2-1 defeat. They only managed two shots on target, a fraction of MLK’s 10 that challenged Peglegs goalkeeper and junior Stefan Sorobay. MLK swept the division for the third straight year, finishing the season with an unblemished 10-0 record.

The Peglegs bounced back nicely, however, drawing against third place Columbia Secondary School, 1-1. Senior and co-captain Kevin Mitchell scored the only goal for the Peglegs, despite their 14 attempts. Mitchell was assisted by his fellow senior captain, Jeffrey Shen. Though not the result the team was looking for, it was an improvement from the 2-0 loss to Columbia earlier in the season. A strong Peglegs defense did well to limit Columbia to one goal, but it was not enough.

The Peglegs’ final game against Washington Irving was crucial because they were still seeking that playoff-clinching win. At home in Pier 40 for the second time this season, the Peglegs only challenged Irving’s goalkeeper five times. The team failed to generate consistent shots on the goal. In this final game with their season on the line, they fell short.

However, the Peglegs ended up content with the hard-played season and look forward to next year. Shen and Mitchell are proud of how the team fought, but sad about not being able to see the team make it to playoffs. “We had a lot of fun and we are going to miss the team a lot,” they said.

Looking ahead to next season, current juniors Jeremy Moller and Stefan Sorobay are two of the members of the team who will be crucial to the offense and defense, respectively. Sorobay had a successful year, only letting in 14 out of 52 shots on goal; he will be impactful, again replacing senior goalkeeper Feras Roumie. Moller, meanwhile, will try to emulate leading scorers Sean Takada (six) and Mitchell (four) next season and carry more of the offensive burden. Coach Vincent Miller said, “[I am] very excited for next season as [they] will have a very big and impactful senior group.” With only four seniors graduating this year compared to 10 last season, the increased experience and leadership on the team should only help.